Most of you have had a chance to meet my 2 youngest daughters at Body over the years, but many of you have likely not had the chance to meet my oldest daughter, Jamie, who lives in Atlanta with her husband, Brett. We are very excited that Jamie and Brett are due to have their first child in October and this past weekend they came home to celebrate with friends and family for her baby shower.
On the way home from the airport, Jamie was telling us about her meeting with her pediatrician who had come highly recommended. It seems that his claim to fame is that he pretty much guarantees parents that if they follow 4 rules their babies will sleep through the night (as in 12 hours) by 4 months of age. Now, for many of us who are moms and dads with kids who weren't great sleepers, this claim seems unfathomable and frankly hard to believe. Of course you're all waiting for those 4 rules...so I'll give you one of them...the one I can remember and the one that made the biggest impression on me: the pediatrician said that if your baby falls asleep before you put it in its bed, you need to wake it up a bit - maybe by changing its diaper or changing its position - so that the baby can then put itself back to sleep. The recommendation is based on the idea that the babies needs to learn how to soothe themselves and not rely on a parent to do so for them.
In much the same way, yoga teaches us this trick as adults. Instead of giving our power away to someone else or something else to calm our nervous systems, we take it upon ourselves to focus on our breathing and bodily sensations to stay present and rid ourselves of anxiety about the future or the past. The rhythmic breathing actually changes our brain chemistry which results in a calmer, chiller you!! In fact, the whole practice of yoga is consistent with this physician's advice and simply starts with your climbing onto your yoga mat!! So if you're struggling with a little anxiety, having trouble sleeping, or just feeling irritable, I challenge you to roll out your mat and practice calming yourself with this 5000 year old tried and true practice we call yoga. Perhaps the ability to soothe yourself can be found right within the 4 corners of your mat!!! Namaste...
