Little knee high stinkers that keep me hunched over through the day.
From picking up toys to wiping boogers and booties.
My life, and the lives of mothers everywhere, is spent with a crescent arch in my back.
Nursing is the hardest on a mama's back. I have heard it said that babies are the star to a mama's crescent moon. It's a sweet and pleasant picture of what is actually quit tiring.
Spending the day in a hunched position takes it's toll on my energy level and my determination to keep going through the day.
So.
What do I do?
I cry a little sometimes.
I'll beg my kids to rub my back and quickly regret it when I realize they're rubbing my back with permanent markers. (How did they get those from the top of the fridge?!?)
What seems to help the most is yoga.
Though the marker back massage is...um...nice? Yoga seems to really help uncurl, untwist, unwind, and undo.
I'm amazed that even a few spine stretches and twists can make me feel like I drank two cups of coffee.
I don't have the luxury of getting outside to run by myself. And by "run" I mean walk. Slowly.
With a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a newborn, my options are limited. We don't have a fitness club with child care within 45 minutes of our house. Even if we did, we do not have the extra funds to spend.
So...yoga.
I'm not an expert. I'm not a yogi. I'm just a mom. A regular person with the desire to not loose my sanity to the wiley ways of small children.
After my sweet little newborn nurses in the morning, I hop joyfully out of bed toss on my yoga pants and hit the mat with strength and determination.
Like this:
That's my silhouette. 😉
Ha!
Okay, this is how it actually goes:
1. Nurse the baby while dozing off and once he's back asleep I fall out of bed
2. Crawl toward my yoga pants that are lying on the floor.
Are they clean?
*sniff*
Eh, they'll do. I'm just going to sweat in them, right?
It's not like I'm going out in public.
3. Haul myself to my feet wondering how on earth I'll be able to do anything.
4. Pop the DVD in
5. Roll out the mat
6. Promptly fall asleep on the mat
7. Wake up two minutes later in sheer panic thinking I'm sleeping on the baby
8. Start doing the yoga DVD
Through the years, yoga is my go-to, fallback, catch all exercise. It's the one practice I find works for me and my body. I've done a couple half marathons and I find that I hurt after all the training and races. I think running is wonderful and is a great way to exercise the body, but I am terrible at it.
I mean people see me running and think, "Wow, oh, that looks painful. Maybe she should do yoga or something instead."
I think being terrible at running pushes me back to wanting to do strength training and yoga.
I need the energy and the wonderful release I feel after even just a 5 minute vinyasa.
Namaste, folks. Namaste.
Wishing everyone out there Yoga Peace and, of course, Hair Peace!!
SUGARLESS UPDATE!!
I've been without sugar for three weeks now!!
I was limiting honey and maple syrup very strictly but soon noticed a drop in my milk supply. I thought it was coincidence until my accountability partner noticed a difference as well. So, I resolved to not limit honey or maple syrup as much. I sweeten my coffee with honey or syrup and add honey to some treats. When I did, my supply returned to normal. Coincidence? Maybe. But breastmilk is heavy on sugars tailored just for baby.
Oh the sacrifices we make for babies! 😉
BUT! I haven't had processed white sugar and I feel incredible!! Sugar was really weighing me down.
