I’m in awe of good mothers–those heroines all around me who sacrifice daily out of love for their children.In our society we give motherhood plenty of lip service. We pat them on the head, bring them flowers for Mother’s Day and honor them in front of crowds. But at the end of the day we don’t extend them the same respect we would a professor, a dentist, an accountant or a judge.  Women who choose full-time mothering are often put in a box marked ”Just a Mom”.

I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is. To create an environment that is stimulating and nurturung, to pass on a sense of responsibility to another human being, to raise a child that understands that she is created from Good and is capable of anything–I know for sure that few callings are more honorable. To play down mothering as small is to crack the very foundation on which greatness stands.

The world can only value mothering to the extent that women everywhere stand and declare that it must be so. In our hands, we hold the power to transform the perception of motherhood. Whether we decide to work full time while raising children, stay home with our kids,  or bear no children at all, we need to understand that any put-down of the decision to mother is a threat to women’s choices everywhere. We should no longer allow a mother to be defined as “just a mom”. It is on her back that great nations are built. We should no longer allow any woman’s voice to be drowned out or disregarded. As we affirm other women, and as we teach our sons, husbands and friends to hold them in the highest regard, we honor both the mothers whose shoulders we’ve stood on and the daughters who will one day stand tall on ours. For the whole month of May, and every other month of the year, we honor every great spiritual teacher who goes by the name of Mother.

All blessings to you this Mother’s Day.     

   Joy as our Resolution

For so many, a New Year is overwhelming. The specter of possibility and the pressure for reinvention bombard us everywhere we look. Starting anew can be daunting if we’ve tried it before and have disappointed ourselves with unrealistic, unfair expectations of turning into some new, improved “super-version” of ourselves.  “Lose ten pounds! No more chocolate! Exercise ten times a week!”  We create goals, habits and restrictions that are too difficult, often abandoned before the spring thaw. This is often driven by our own feelings of self-judgement or disapproval, inadequacy and unworthiness.  What purpose does that serve? These punitive inner voices don’t help us along on our path of evolution and growth; if anything they are counterproductive, often keeping us in a position of ”staying in our own way”. 

We are each given a Divine assignment and our job as sentient beings is to find it, accept it and live it. When we do, we can view every experience– however small or seemingly unimportant as part of the Plan; we can realize that mistakes and failures create Opportunities; we can know our challenges are part of the Lesson.

       Each time we step onto our yoga mat,  we begin afresh, and the practice renews us.  The Yogic system is a complete tool kit to assist us with our continuing evolution and involution. Through Pranayama we breathe into Presence; through meditation we make space in the mind to create clarity; through asana we purify and refine the physical sheath releasing energetic densities and fears and so that we might freely open our heart. The scriptures help us understand and put into context the struggles every human faces; teach us to see all the qualities of human frailty without judgement; show us that with practice, discipline and commitment we can rise toward the Divinity from which we have descended.      

With such a profound support system, how can we fail? I’ve seen in my own practice that everything t happening to us on our mat is a microcosm of what happens to us once we step off of it. If we are dedicated to our practice for it’s own sake–with humility, patience and consistency and without attachment–we progress. One day when we least expect it, where each time before we’ve wobbled and fallen out of a particular pose, suddenly our standing foot becomes more stable and grounded…we feel lift in the inner seams of our legs, our shoulders and heart are open..and miraculously we experience flight and dance while firmly rooted in the earth.  The product of this effort is Joy, and according to Deepak Chopra, it is our birthright. So this month we will focus on Joy, and connecting to it through our practice. Isn’t that where every New Year should start?   

Namaste,

Dana