The Mothering Instinct In all of Us.

I saw a flashback video today of my children in fits of laugher from when they were younger. Although I relished seeing my children so happy, it brought tears to my eyes and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.

I recognised I hadn’t remembered this moment and the person in this video was a shadow of who I am today. That me, hadn’t had the kick up the bum I needed to face reality and to make some essential changes in my life. That me was so caught up in the seemingly mundane cycle of day to day life and the script I told myself that I was doing the best for my children, at the route of which was “I am not worthy” this led me down a dark path that lacked self care, connection and joy.

I had made my purpose my children and simple forgot I was a person with needs and desires, I neglected my body, my mind, and my relationships and actually I was neglecting the one thing I put the upmost importance in. My children. I wasn’t being present with them, I wasn’t able to notice that the small things really were the big things and if you don’t pay attention you missed them altogether.

Many of us do this. According to Jungian Psychology we can all can become possessed by the mother archetype. Wether we mother our jobs, our pets, our spouses, our clients, patients the list goes on. If we’re not careful enough to recognise these patterns of behaviour we can all be consumed by the mother in us.

When I returned to a committed yoga practice and explored meditation the reality of my life became clearer, I could immediately recognise the difference in my connection to my children and others. Yoga allowed me the space to reflect and meditation gave me a connection to something bigger, helping me recognise the beauty in all things, even spending hours folding washing 😂

Yoga is many many things; great for strength training, liberating joints, loosening limbs, improving balance and flexibility, combating the rapid effects of aging, learning a new skill, communion of mind body and spirit, strengthening are ability to be in the present moment, prepares us for meditation, gives us tools to manage our emotions, an understanding of the power of breath work and the list goes on.

But to me, yoga will always be a spiritual practice. I will forever be in a state of gratitude when I practice yoga and meditation, it helped pull me out of the darkness and into the light and it’s always there for me, with it I can weather any storm.

However you get into yoga, New York yoga, spiritual yoga somewhere in between yoga, doesn’t matter just Yoga! ❤️