Gratitude, what my newborn is teaching me…
Practicing yoga as a mom of a newborn has been challenging. However, the lessons I am learning from my baby are incredibly connected to the lessons I have been learning from the philosophy of yoga.
A newborn brings so much joy but also a lot of anxiety and frustration. You want to give them all they need. How can you fix ALL the problems your baby has? You cannot… As much as I hate the answer, it is impossible to do such thing. You help them go through them giving them your love and support. That’s all. You have to let them learn by themselves their own lessons. Because after all, there is an intelligence that already is part of them (and everybody else). You need to trust that intelligence. That has been one of the hardest lessons I have had to accept.
Every time my baby cries because she cannot burp properly, for example, I realise how hard is to be a human, and how powerful we become with each year of life. We might think that the basic things our body does every day are not special enough because we are used to them. However, just notice how a child struggles to learn to use their digestive system, to develop their neck muscles, etc. It’s extraordinary to observe this intelligence that composes every human being and every particle of this planet as well as the entire universe.
When I observe this, I can only think of gratitude. Our bodies are perfect the way we are. We only need to take care of them (do yoga, taichi, something special!) nourish them, keep them healthy, and they will continue carrying our souls for the time we are meant to be on this planet.
I am grateful to the universe because now I can understand that everything is perfect the way it is. That intelligence is leading our life and our bodies.
I am grateful to my mom and my family because they supported me as much as they could, in order to help me go through basic learnings as a baby and as a kid.
I am grateful to society because it has made me question the roles I play in it. I include my friends, my partner, even my acquaintances. All of them make life more meaningful.
I am grateful to myself for all the things I have allowed to happen in my life. I have learned many lessons from them. Now, as a new mom, I am sure I have lots more to learn and improve for me and my daughter.
Now it is your turn to make your own Gratitude list. I hope you got some inspiration from this post.
Namaste
15-minute audio recorded by Lady Jerez