Yoga for Moms (or Dads)

I used to be a yoga-addict (does it count as addiction if it’s good for you?). Nothing helped lower my stress and zen me out more than a hard, sweaty class followed by a yummy frozen yogurt dinner (ah, the life of a 20-something). These days, yoga has taken on a new stance in the most-baby world. Here are some of my favorite poses:

Warrior 3 – closing the fridge door with your foot (that your toddler left open) while serving up breakfast from the skillet and turning off the running faucet with the other hand (that your husband left running); a typical family morning

Tree pose – standing on one leg because you just stepped on another lego/Dora doll/rattle with baby balanced on your hip, diaper bag over arm, trying to get out the door

Cobra pose – lounging on the floor on your belly, playing with puzzles with your child, while he/she alternates between riding on your back, climbing on your shoulders, and running back to take away the puzzle piece you just fit into the board

Chair pose – sitting down in squat without aid of a chair because they were all occupied by your child’s favorite stuffed animals and dolls, but she still insists that you join them for tea (and you cannot sit on the ground because –that- would be improper, apparently)

Triangle pose – using one leg/foot to keep a heavy door wide open into the store (most likely a coffeeshop), while navigating a wide stroller through it, holding your breath that your infant who just fell asleep will continue to sleep in the store just long enough for your quadruple espresso over ice (so you can chug it like a junkie shoots heroin)

Child’s pose – curled up in a little ball in the dark closet while playing “hide and seek” with your moody toddler, enjoying the few minutes of bliss before she finds you; consider maybe hiding in the next door neighbor’s house to prolong the process

Lotus pose – or sitting cross-legged on the floor, as this is the only place that you sit anymore since you stand everywhere else and the sofa has only been used as a trampoline (by your toddler) and as a bed (at 3am by an exhausted parent who has been exiled by the (finally) sleeping baby next to his or her spouse in bed)

Corpse pose – lying on your back, pretending to sleep, taking deep breaths while counting down the last hours before your child’s bedtime; breath in (just three hours to go), breath out (I can see the light at the end of the tunnel), breath in (this too shall pass), oommph! breath out (I didn’t need those ribs anyway)