practicing peace

Sometimes bed time with four little wilds is, well, wild. There is SO much to be done, and then of course, they want to be read to, sung to, danced with, prayed over and smooched on. The whole process can end up taking all evening, and just when you finally have gotten them tucked in and you've blown your final kisses and whispered your I love yous and ever, ever so gently tip-toed your way out the door and breathed an exhausted releasing sigh- out pops a bug, needing a drink of water.

On one such occasion, I was at my near breaking point. Totally weary and desperately on the verge of tears. I needed a deep breath, a break, a reminder. I slowly walked to the iPad, turned on some worship music, lit a candle, and asked the kids to gather around. . .  and then I proceeded to lead them in a mini yoga class. 

Hilarious, as I don't know any yoga, I'm horribly inflexible, and have absolutely no patience for any kind of meditation. Desperate times and all that.

I used my best calming yogi voice as we traveled thru mountain pose, into downward dog, I threw in a warrior to appease the boys, before heading down into a chattarunga, only to finish lying on our backs on the floor, arms outstretched, soaking in our silence as the words of the songs washed over us.

Finally, we slowly rolled ourselves to a sitting position, where we went around the room listing things and people we were thankful for, along with anything we wanted to pray about.

I couldn't believe how much they enjoyed it, and how surprisingly well they did. To top it all off, we had pretty much covered our entire nighttime routine in one 15 minute yoga class. They calmly climbed into bed and I left the room breathing easy.

It always amazes me how in a time of desperation something beautiful is born, like our love you song and now these yoga evenings. You try and plan for things, to build these lasting family traditions, but sometimes the best ones are the surprises. 

I really must take some kind of yoga class to learn some new moves, but regardless, it's become a sweet time for our little crew- a break from the chaos, to remind us to be still and be grateful.

namaste.