Parenting is a journey like no other, filled with joy, love, and adventure. Yet, it can also be a path fraught with challenges, requiring resilience, communication, and the ability to find calm amongst chaos. Yoga offers invaluable tools to enhance your role as a caregiver by cultivating improved communication, the ability to sit in discomfort with mindfulness, and building the resilience necessary to play and stay active with your children for a long and happy lifetime.
Communication is Key
Communication is the bedrock of any relationship, especially between parents and their children. In yoga philosophy, the Jalandhara Chakra is considered the center of communication. By practicing specific yoga poses and techniques that stimulate this energy center, parents can unlock the potential for improved communication with their little ones.
The Jalandhara Chakra, situated at the throat, is associated with self-expression and the ability to listen and understand. Yoga encourages parents to engage in poses like Pyramid (Parsvottanasa) while engaging your throat “lock” Jalandhara Bandha. To create this throat lock, draw your chin to your sternum and then draw up like you’re pulling your shirt toward your throat. When this “lock” is released it draws fresh blood flow to this center of communication, replenishing it with freshly oxygenated blood and thereby flushing out any phlegm or blockages that may have been causing stagnation of energy in that area.
Another effective way to activate and balance this chakra is Camel Pose (Ustrasana). The heart and the throat are wide and open in this posture, allowing you to create space for all the wonderful things your little one fills you up with, reminding you to remain open and vulnerable with them, so they feel safe in being open and vulnerable with you, in return. This practice not only helps you to articulate their thoughts and feelings more effectively but also allows you to become a more receptive and empathetic listener. By creating this harmonious balance within, you can foster healthier and more meaningful dialogues with your children, deepening that parent-child connection.
Tranquility Amid Tantrums
Parenting often involves confronting uncomfortable situations, from sleepless nights to exhausted days to your little trying every last inch of your patience. Yoga provides the tools to sit in these moments of discomfort with grace and mindfulness. By training the mind through meditation and deep breathing, you can learn to detach from the discomfort of the moment and observe it without judgment.
Incorporating mindfulness into parenting allows you to respond to challenging situations with composure rather than reactivity. This invaluable skill minimizes the impact of stress on the parent-child relationship and fosters an environment of understanding and patience. Through regular practice, you can find the strength to sit in discomfort and navigate it with serenity, ensuring a more harmonious household.
Resilience for a Lifetime of Play
Children possess boundless energy, and keeping up with their activities can be physically demanding. A regular yoga practice builds resilience and strength, enabling parents to remain active, play with their children, and partake in family adventures throughout their lives. This resilience and longevity of healthy body systems reaches a whole new level when you incorporate weight training into your weekly schedule of mindful movement. PLAY is excited to start offering more yoga sculpt options on the schedule starting November 2023. Look for more Kick Ur Asana and Hot Flow Flex options soon.
The physical benefits of yoga and weight training, including improved flexibility, balance, and strength, will empower you to engage actively in your child’s play. This investment in physical well-being not only enhances the parent-child relationship but also sets a positive example for the importance of health and fitness.
Yoga serves as a powerful ally in the realm of parenting, addressing multiple aspects of this life long relationship. By balancing the Jalandhara Chakra, communication becomes more effective and balanced. The practice of mindfulness leads to an ability to sit in what can sometimes be total discomfort, with grace and composure. This practice also imparts the physical resilience, needed to play and stay active with your children throughout their lives. This harmonious dance of yoga and parenting creates a family dynamic rooted in love, understanding, and a lifetime of shared adventures.
Don’t forget to take advantage of PLAY’s Childcare Membership. We are now offering Childcare every Tuesday @ 4:30PM and Thursday @ 8:30AM.
