Legs up the wall is top on my list of favorite yoga poses. My love for legs up the wall began when I was doing my teacher training with Gurmukh Mike Noury of Yoga of India. He began each class with students starting out in legs up the wall as they came into class. When my kids were younger, beginning at ages 1,3 and 5 I would crave time to be still throughout the day. One of my tricks was this “hey lets see who can stay in legs up the wall the longest” I always won! Probably not my greatest parenting moment or even very ‘yogic’ but it gave me a few minutes of much needed peace in my day.
Recently I’ve been finishing up the inversion sequence with legs up the wall or supported shoulder stand at the wall and then settling into Savasana. Last week as we were settling into the pose fellow yogi Carrie, SAHM, and owner of
Hammi Jammi Jewelry shared a great story with the class about seeking refuge in legs up the wall and I immediately said “Can you write about that for the blog?” Parents with children of all ages can relate to her desire for a few minutes of peace throughout the day. I know I can!
I am a SAHM of two active boys and try to run a jewelry business on the side. I say TRY because my husband travels every Monday thru Thursday for work and I don’t get as much accomplished during the week, as I would like. Yeah sure, I can keep up with my blogging and Facebook for my business, but my real passion of creating is left for the weekends. If this doesn’t sound crazy enough for you try throwing in preschool, cub scouts, soccer, and house cleaning, wash, grocery shopping, cutting the grass and yard work…you get the picture. I do try to carve out little specks of “me” time to keep my sanity. We all have crazy lives; I’m not implying that my family is much different from yours. I just think that we can all relate in one-way or another. We all can have empathy and compassion for the plight of the SAHM (not sure why it’s called this….I’m rarely ever home).
I do try to practice yoga, ALSO not as much as I like. Barbara has been my teacher and my friend for the past several years. She introduced me to the practice of yoga and I’ve been hooked ever since. I practiced though out my second pregnancy and I think that it really helped with my delivery. For me, yoga is a much more spiritual and meditative practice more than a physical one. It calms and relaxes me. I also feel very connected to the other people who are practicing with me. It’s a connection of mind, body, and spirit and I begin to crave the classes towards the end of my busy week.
On a particularly crazy Saturday a few weeks ago, the vicious cycle of wash to be put away was piled all around me; the kitchen sink was piled with dishes; the kids we constantly nagging me for things; the dog wanted a walk; every toy in the house was dumped in my living room. I could barely think and focus on what I should clean up first. I silently went upstairs, went in my closet, and shut the door. I laid on the floor and put my legs up the wall (Viparita Karani). This is a very comforting and relaxing inversion and I instantly started to feel better. Then I heard, “Mommy, Carrie….Babe, where are you?” My peace and quiet was broken. My “me” time was done. Then the door opened up and my husband was dumbfounded. He asked, “What in the heck are you doing?” I just looked at him and simply said, “Yoga.” Then, with a clearer head and a different prospective, I was ready to tackle the mess of my house.
Namaste’
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