How to fit in a daily yoga practice in when you’re a busy Mum
So… five minute Monday minis are a thing now and today we’re talking about how to fit in a daily yoga practice when you’re a busy Mum. I’m going to attempt to talk about alllllll the things I want to talk about in less than five minutes because I know you don’t have time to watch anything longer. Actually I’ve made it one step easier, you can either watch the video below or read the transcript.
So I was asked the other day, “How do you make time for yoga when you’re a busy Mum?”
It’s such a great question but I’d love to start with this – let’s redefine what yoga means.
Yoga doesn’t have to be on the mat.
Yoga doesn’t have to be an hour long practice.
Yoga doesn’t have to be you getting your sweat on.
While I think asana is really important – it’s also not the whole picture.
Your yoga practice can be rocking your baby to sleep of a night time and allowing yourself to do some deep breathing rather than getting frustrated with the fact that they’re still ….not… asleep.
Your yoga practice can be taking a moment of gratitude before you fall asleep at night.
Your yoga practice can be taking some deep breaths when your two-year-old chucks a tantrum because you gave them the wrong color cup.
Your yoga practice can be walking around the block with your toddler at snail’s pace while they’ll check out every insect and ant and just being aware of the moment rather than getting caught up in all the things that you need to do.
That’s your yoga practice as well, that mindfulness and that approach to life, that way of living, that IS yoga.
The physical practice is still really important. I’m not gonna knock it obviously, but I just want you to see that there’s also more to it, so don’t get too bogged down in it needing to look a certain way.
I can’t do hour-long practices anymore either. The only time I ever get an hour-long practice in is when I’m either teaching or I’m in the studio because I’ve gone to a class. At the minute, that’s probably happening for me once a month. That’s as much as I get into the studio. And you know what? I’m cheering when I get there. It’s amazing but it doesn’t happen very often.
Most of my practices are short 10, 20 minutes, whatever I can fit in around the kids.
Alright so let’s get down to it then.
How to fit in a daily yoga practice when you’re a busy Mum.
Do it first thing in the morning before you’ve got a thousand excuses why you shouldn’t do it. (I am a hundred percent guilty of this.) If I plan to do yoga in the afternoon, by three or four o’clock I’ve got a thousand other excuses. I should cook dinner, I should hang the washing out, I should not get sweaty because then I’ll have to have another shower. You know, all of the excuses. First thing in the morning however, I can usually kind of bypass that little argument with myself and just jump on my mat. Before I know it, I’ve done it, and it’s done.
If you can create a ritual and routine around your practice you can take the decision-making out of it. You tell yourself this is what you do first thing every morning or first thing every second morning. No excuses, no arguments, you just do it. You’re going to have more of a chance of sticking to a regular practice this.
Make your practice the first thing you do once your kids go down for a nap or when they go to sleep at night. I know it’s tempting to meld into the couch and get Facebook out but see if you can get on your mat first – again it only needs to be for 10 or 20 minutes. I’ve got lots of classes over in my online yoga circle if you want to be guided for that practice. I guarantee you’ll feel way better than if you spent that 10 minutes in a Facebook vortex on the couch.
Sign up for a yoga studio or yoga membership. It may sound counter-productive booking into a studio if you feel like you have no time for yoga but the actual commitment of investing money into something is great motivation. I know for me if I’m paying for a membership, I’m gonna be using it. So going to a physical studio and meeting a person there is a great way to make sure that you actually go. If that’s not possible for you, so it might be not in the budget, it might be that you don’t have childcare, maybe your husband works away, and you can’t get in, an online membership will work just as well so you have that financial commitment.
Stop thinking about your yoga practice as needing to be a series of poses done on a mat. It doesn’t.
Your yoga practice might be while you wait for the kettle to boil, you do some stretches holding onto the bench, walking your feet out and just stretching out through your back.
Your yoga practice might just doing some forward folds while you sit on the floor with your kids.
Your yoga practice might doing a few sun salutations on the grass while the kids play on the trampoline.
It doesn’t have to be for any certain length of time. It could even be just a gentle twist in your office chair.
So I hope that has helped you to think about how you can fit a yoga practice into your day even when you’re a busy Mum. If you have other tips that I’ve missed make sure you let us know in the comments.