Balance.grounding.prayer.yoga.mom.empower

TODAY I am struggling with balance, acceptance and grounding. As a mom of a 5 year old and 2 year old, I have a grocery list, to do list, and over planned calendar that haunts me in my sleep. With Halloween and my daughter’s birthday, I am bombarded with things to do for her, for my son, at home, for my private practice, and for my family. I am fearful with the holidays coming soon, things are going to continue to busy, chaotic, and crazy. In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season where do you find peace, grounding, and quiet time? I am wondering if those days are over with two small children or do I have to value and appreciate the moments that pop up and I have five minutes to myself in carpool or I squeeze in a hour yoga class or I get a hour at Starbucks before I have to rush back to get my son from MDO. The moments that were unplanned, still, and relaxing are sometimes the best quiet time to myself. I am not on the beach, one of my favorite places in the world, half way buried in the grainy sand and feeling the waves hit my toes, but I am alone, reflecting, and still. As a busy mom of two juggling mommy hood and work, l want to appreciate these small moments and make the most of them. Here are some balancing and grounding ideas I came up with for my five minutes of peaceful bliss, to appreciate each and every moment I get to myself and why it helps me, what are some of your ideas:

1.       Deep breathing- breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. Thinking to myself with every cleansing breath that I am breathing in new, fresh, clean oxygen and breathing out toxins, negative thoughts, and things that hold me back from being my best. When my mind wonders (which it does all the time and A LOT) I bring my awareness back to breathing, fighting and training my mind to focus on my breath. We all breathe every day without any awareness of our breath and yet without it we would not be the busy super moms we all strive to be. So appreciating the breath, acknowledging the body working hard for our breath, and exhaling the negative toxins in our breath allows gratitude, grounding, and balance.

2.       Pray- I will admit I pray in the morning when I wake up, at dinner with my husband and kids, and at bedtime. But unless there is a prayer request during the day, I forget to send up my thanks. In those short five minutes when both kids are playing nicely on the playground, say a prayer of thankfulness, protection, peace, healing, hope, whatever moves you in that moment. Prayer has had the power to change mental state, mood, feelings of doubt/guilt/anxiety/depression and so much more. Often when I pray I feel more hopeful and grounded in the realization that God is ultimately in control and His plan is Perfect.

3.       Exercise- As a runner, I have trained for four half marathons (2 before children, one after my daughter, and one after I had my son). I love to run outside when the weather allows and having a double jogging stroller allows all of us to go together. We talk about the animals we see, the park we pass, sing songs, and my daughter even cheers for me up hills. I have found that incorporating exercise, any kind (my newest addiction is YOGA) helps me get through the day because I have done something for myself that allows me to be more present and patient with my children. Yoga especially has a grounding and balancing effect, I leave feeling like if I don’t get one thing on my to do list done life will still go on perfectly. Yoga has allowed me to work on my core strength, develop more self-confidence, and appreciate the 30 minutes to an hour that I spent on myself, to improve my self-mood-confidence-awareness- balance-mindfulness. Exercise has all positive benefits, it relieves tension and stress, supports heart health, increase and release of endorphin, and so much more.

Sso to all my yogis, runners, and body building mommas- more power to you and keep it up cuz it's hard to find time to train, but so rewarding and exercising teaches your children to take care of themselves and be disciplined, self-control, and self-empowering thru training!

Pplayful blessings during this crazy but fabulous time of the year and happy Thanksgiving,

bDr. brooke