If you had met me like 10 years ago and asked me to do some yoga, I would’ve politely told you “hell no”. I used to think yoga was some crazy hippie nonsense that was boring and was meant to put you to sleep. Mind you that 10 years ago I was a stupid 20 year old that didn’t know nothing about nothing but thought I knew just about everything. Little did I know, however, that yoga and meditation would be my best friend after having three little hellions running around.
I first truly considered doing yoga for real when I was pregnant with Maya. I really wanted to have a natural childbirth for my final birthing experience. One of the first conversations that I had with my doula consisted of various prepping activities that could help me “train” for my marathon that is childbirth. She said that yoga was a great
option because it helps with breathing and focusing your mind on peace and tranquility, especially in the midst of hard work and pain. It can calm your mind, she said. So desperately wanting to do all I can to achieve my dream of a natural labor and delivery, I did my yoga via prenatal You Tube videos every night during my second and third trimester. And what do you know, it really helped. Even though I was loud enough for the entire labor and delivery floor to hear me, I birthed my daughter drug and intervention free!
Fast forward to end of year 2015. If you have been following my blog, you know it’s been a very trying year. I admit that I have been struggling as a mom. Everyday it’s either the boy or the older girl who are or have attempted to give me the business. Whether its the talking back, pure defiance, throwing tantrums (or objects), or fighting with each other, I have come to a point where I am willing to try anything. While talking to a good friend who is currently going through the same thing with her kids, she asked me if I had considered trying meditation. She had done some research and wanted to try this to help with her boys. Being tired of yelling and taking away toys and sometimes spanking I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. I also figured I add yoga to it.
I must say, the yoga is a hit! We’ve only been doing it for about 3 days but Noah and Layla love it! They have been asking to do it throughout the day. Right now, we do yoga in the morning, if time permits and before bed. We watch and follow along with Cosmic Kids Yoga, a channel on You Tube. The host creates fun and engaging stories that allow kids to follow along while doing different yoga poses. Each story also includes a different remedy for a typical problem that young children might face, such as facing your fears, trying new things, or concentrating on a specific task. We are still working on the poses as expected because they are 4 and 5 and have the gracefulness of a Robin Barnett (which is none lol) but they really enjoying trying the new moves and love all the acting out they get to do. And in spite of it all, they are improving their focusing skills in the process. 
I am hoping that keeping our yoga and meditation in our daily routine will help to boost Noah and Layla’s persistence, determination, patience, and confidence while eliminating the quickness to frustration that they currently deal with. So look at that 2005 Robin, yoga is cool! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
Tame those little crazies living in your house in time for the holidays! Visit: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
For guided meditation go to: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=meditation+for+kids
Outnumbered 