{"id":7920,"date":"2012-05-12T09:30:47","date_gmt":"2012-05-12T13:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=7920"},"modified":"2012-05-15T09:32:05","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T13:32:05","slug":"too-busy-to-take-care-of-yourself-the-busy-moms-guide-to-practicing-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=7920","title":{"rendered":"The Busy Mom’s Guide to Practicing Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Breathing in This Life]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Too Busy To Take Care of Yourself?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Practicing Yoga<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

by Ginger Garner<\/strong>,\u00a0 MPT, ATC<\/span><\/p>\n

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It is ironic that I am sitting here procrastinating about penning this post on yoga for busy moms. Why? Because I am a fellow exhausted mother – with three boys under age six. Just like everyone else, I also have trouble finding time to squeeze in time for myself.\u00a0 (Not to mention I am typing on a keyboard that is missing 5 keys, thanks to my youngest son’s creative pursuits 2 days ago. That alone adds its own special challenge.) However, I got this question from a reader a few months back. It is very timely for moms, and for anyone who is “too exhausted or too busy for exercise.”<\/p>\n

The question:<\/p>\n

Q: How can a busy mom, working both in and outside the home, find time for yoga – or any exercise at all? Signed, Shelly (a busy mom working full time)<\/p>\n

A: Dear Shelly, if I had the magic answer to this question, then we could solve a huge portion of the “mom stress” out there right now, and for that matter, everyone’s stress!\u00a0 However, I can offer you the same tools I use to help myself and other moms stay on the wellness wagon.
\nYoga, as well as exercise, have been proven to provide stress relief, build bone density, help in weight management, prevent inflammation and the chronic diseases associated with it, such as arthritis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and pain syndromes – just to name a few benefits.\u00a0 However, the majority of Americans find it very hard to commit to a wellness regime like exercise, yoga, or eating well.
\nThe US Department of Health and Human Services report that 7 out of 10 Americans don’t get exercise regularly, despite the overwhelming proof of its benefits1<\/sup>.Additionally, some 300,000 deaths per year are caused by lack of exercise, namely those caused by heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several forms of cancer.
\n\"\"<\/a>So what is a busy mom to do?\u00a0 Women perform approximately 75% of household management and chores, even if they also work full time outside the home.2 <\/sup> Additionally, women are typically the primary caregivers for children and\/or aging parents.\u00a0 This places women in the impossible position of doing more work than they can handle.\u00a0 It is highly likely this unequal work load has also contributed to the increase in postpartum depression (PPD), which now stands at an alarming 25%, up from 5% just a few decades ago. In addition, up to 80% of women are reported to suffer from “baby blues,<\/a>” which can be difficult to distinguish from PPD.
\nThe fact is – exercise, especially yoga, plays an important role in decreasing anxiety, depression, and stress. 3, 4<\/sup> Knowing the anti-depressant, stress relieving, disease preventing, body and mind shaping benefits that yoga offers, how can moms fit yoga into their busy schedule?\u00a0 As a working mom of three boys and as a women’s health physical therapist and yoga coach, here are 4 tips you can use now – to start practicing yoga.
\nEveryone is busy, especially mothers.\u00a0 Lack of time is probably the most cited excuse for not exercising enough; however, you can fit yoga into your schedule.\u00a0 I’ve been successful at exercising regularly (yoga is my main method) while juggling mom, life, and work duties, though not without diligence and hard work.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0 Plan your yoga routine on a weekly basis, rather than daily.\u00a0 Before I became a mom, finding time to practice was much easier. I practiced daily, usually for 90 minutes in the morning, followed by a walk or jog in the afternoon or evening.\u00a0 After my first son was born, that rigorous (and rather rigid) routine fell away.\u00a0 Fortunately, the practice of “living my yoga” made me flexible enough to go with the flow and adopt a new routine for my new season of life: motherhood.\u00a0 Now, 5 years later, I am expecting my third child – and I have found the best method for maintaining my yoga practice is to schedule it by the week, rather than daily.\u00a0 Sure, I still practice daily – but my yoga may consist of a relaxation\/corpse or other restorative yoga pose and\/or 10 minutes of meditation- what I call recalibrating my brain so I can relax and feel grateful.\u00a0 I typically schedule “mat time” for yoga practice, about 3 times a week for 30-60 minutes.<\/p>\n

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2. Be flexible about your practice.\u00a0 After my first child was born, I broke down my yoga practice into 10 minute segments. We would both get on our “yoga mats” – except his would be for tummy time or when he was older, play time. As I welcomed my second child just 20 months later, my yoga time was combined with their (limited) PBS time (public television programs). The younger one could still have mat time while the older one caught a 30 minute PBS program like Sesame Street.<\/p>\n

Another common way I got 30 minutes of yoga in was to take the whole set up (me, the boys, and my yoga paraphernalia) to the park or the beach (we live on an island). Then I could get in play time while the kids played within just a few feet of me.\u00a0 The bottom line is – I make yoga time a fun and relaxing play time for all of us. Now that they are older – they love to do yoga with me (and sometimes on me) – and everyone reaps the benefits. In fact, I find they prefer yoga over their occasional PBS program. That is the best benefit of all!<\/p>\n

Additionally, after the first decade of my yoga practice almost 10 years ago, I began to realize more and more that yoga, kind of like prayer, can be done anywhere.\u00a0 Yoga is not just the physical postures or the sticky mat. Yoga is a way of life. Yoga doesn’t just mean time logged on your sticky mat. Yoga can be a bike ride, a mid-day walk, pushing your children on a swing at the park, sitting on the beach or hiking a trail. This past year most of my yoga has been logged while nursing my newborn son.<\/p>\n

Pain can be your best teacher.\u00a0 For example – 2011 \u2013 a single year in my life \u2013 brought events that I now recognize that serve as my greatest yoga teacher.\u00a0 Amidst serious health problems, outside my control, that threatened my life and the life of my unborn son, peace prevailed.\u00a0 I credit my faith and my yoga for that peace.\u00a0 I encourage everyone to do two critical things to find peace \u2013 1. Be flexible and 2. Never lose hope.<\/p>\n

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3. Find a qualified instructor.\u00a0 Most people need to start practicing yoga with the help of a teacher.\u00a0 However, in the US there is no regulation for yoga teaching.\u00a0 This means anyone can teach yoga, no training necessary.\u00a0 The Yoga Alliance (YA)\u00a0 provides minimal voluntary standards for teachers, however teachers who are registered through YA do not have medical training, coursework, and are not licensed.\u00a0 They are also not qualified to work with anyone with health problems, since their care must be coordinated with a physician or other licensed medical professional.\u00a0 If you have medical concerns, conditions , or injuries, you need to seek medical care and preferably, work with someone trained in both conventional medicine and yogic medicine.\u00a0 You can visit the www.iayt.org<\/a> site to find yoga therapists.\u00a0\u00a0 IAYT, the International Association of Yoga Therapists is currently working toward creating standards for yoga therapy in America.\u00a0 You can find a licensed medical professional who can teach yoga as medicine (and often have it covered by your insurance) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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4. Make sure you start with foundational work.\u00a0 Medically sound yoga must include these important components.<\/p>\n