I Am Here to Teach You Patience by Jaime Miller

“I am here to teach you patience”.  As I bought my infant daughter Sage a tiny tee shirt with these words and a meditating Buddha Baby silk screened on it, I thought it was perfection on a onesie.  Having “adopted” my boyfriend’s daughter Jenna as my own child years ago, I was aware of children’s role as teachers in their care takers lives.  The birth of Sage augmented my role as Mother and I am reminded every day of the lessons children teach you.  Patience, selflessness, compassion…did I mention patience?

Now, as a mother of two living in the mountains of North Carolina away from my support system, asana practice has slowly dwindled from a regular routine to seldom sweet relief.  But, I assure you, I still do yoga every day.  Yoga is not solely a physical practice.  It is a complex system that, if adopted wholly, impacts your entire lifestyle.  Asthanga Yoga, Living Yoga’s foundational yoga style, is an eight limbed system that includes physical posture practice (asana), breath control (pranayama), and restraints or abstinence (yamas).  The yamas include non-harming (ahimsa).  Non-harming does not just mean non-violence, but kindness, friendliness, and thoughtful consideration of other people and things.  Considering the needs of others is a key component of mothering and something that children require of you all day.

Additionally, when I begin any asana practice, my intention is to cultivate peace.  Feeling peaceful amidst stressful situations can be difficult, but regular asana practice helps yoga practitioners to do so.  Typically, there are multiple postures during a practice that are truly difficult.  In pigeon, when your hips are screaming and your foot is numb, can you calm your mind?  Can you breathe through the stress and rising anxiety and release or do you hold onto the tension and feel anger towards the teacher who is holding you in the posture for so long? 

The same applies to kids and other individuals who challenge you (an ungrateful boss or rude cashier perhaps).  I try to remind myself of potential opportunities to refine key virtues as my baby screams at 2 a.m.: to be calm in the eye of the storm, to breathe, to be peaceful.  Amazingly, the more I practice, the more it’s possible.  Don’t get me wrong, I am challenged everyday by my role as a stay-at-home mother.  But on days when Jenna never stops talking and Sage won’t eat, sleep, or entertain herself when I want, I have to remember that they are teaching me patience, I am practicing yogic principles, and that very soon I will live within one hour of the best babysitters I could ever ask for: my parents.