Mama Needs a Refill

Two gifts this morning refilling my cup, and all before 7:30 am. I just had to slow down to receive them.

Learning from a new yoga teacher, Dora, my body barely awake, doing yoga poses to music, which is also new to me, I was reminded who I was and as Guru Singh told me in his lyrics this morning, I am who I am and that is that.

In this one funky pose I had to grab my foot behind me and on one side, no problem. On the left side of my body, not so much. In the small class, I spoke up, What if you can’t grab your foot on this side?

Then that is that.

Just hang out then, Dora Gyarmati, owner and artistic director of
Spira Power Yoga (www.spirapoweryoga.com), instructed. No big deal, but interesting, what is your body saying?

Later, after my body was warmed up and already receiving the benefits of sweating at 6:30 in the morning, she read words that of course I thought were meant just for me…The only way to figure out who you are is to slow down.

By slowing down we rediscover who we are. By letting go we discover new parts of who we are.

Yoga and good lyrics, my two gifts. I don’t even need a shower or a cup of coffee. I am filled up ready to face swim team practice, making lunches, sibling rivalry…whatever the day brings.

I have slowed down enough to listen to what I need and to discover who I am.

Packing up to go camping I found my camping mug. Camping is a way to slow down and figure out who I am indeed. Also a great way to get to figure out and discover my family.

Remember when you were a teenager and you would lay out on the roof with your best friend, all lathered in baby oil. In one day, you would go from white to cocoa bean. The big decision of the day was what time should we turn over so both sides were equally tan.

My naturopath strongly recommends getting twenty minutes of sunshine without sunscreen. I love my naturopath. Living here in Seattle we are all vitamin D deficient, she believes. And my recent blood draw shows just that, D deficient.

I’m not like I was when I was a teenager living my summer days to get brown and I haven’t fake baked since my wedding. These days sitting in the sunshine for twenty minutes is all I need. I turn my chair to the warmth. Remove my sunglasses, close my eyes and go into a quiet place. The heat soothes me, sitting still centers me, and just being for a moment helps me find my breath.

Instead of worrying about skin cancer I am filling my cup. It doesn’t take long. Sometimes 10 minutes in between swim lessons, carpooling and making lunch is exactly what the doctor ordered. I am a new woman with color in my cheeks, remembering how to breathe.

Filling my cup with sunshine and quiet as the house sleeps.