As a fan of Bikram yoga, I have been practicing for over seven years. I always take summers off. Too hard to get to class with driving kids to swim and dive practice at the pool. Plus it’s too hot to walk into a hot room cooking at over 105 degrees.

This past September after having taken the summer off I was ready to get my yoga on and sweat like a pig on a Midwest farm. This yoga isn’t just about getting my exercise and filling my physical cup. It’s much more. It fills me up on every level, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. That month I committed to three days a week. Four was too hard to juggle. Not only did three fit logistically, I felt the payoff in my mood, sleep and eating patterns. It still stretched me, challenging me to a new level. In order to solidify this pledge to myself, making a financial promise of having the money automatically withdrawn from my bank account helped me to take this commitment even more seriously. Knowing I was paying for it, I had to show up.

When May came around I noticed how I didn’t want to say goodbye to Bikram yoga for the summer. I wanted to walk into the suffocating heat on a glorious sunny afternoon and practice the thing that filled my cup on all levels. Here came the next commitment. No taking the summer off, three days a week will continue I told myself before the kids got out of school.

Yes, it is taking some juggling and planning but on this first week of summer break, I have gotten to yoga class three times. It will be even more important next week when swim meets begin. I will need a de-stresser. It will be essential to have a full cup with all the giving, doing and busyness approaching. Yoga is my thing. My cup filler. It is my swim team. My dedication of choice to show up to myself.

The thing is, I am not the only one benefiting. My husband hears me talking calmly instead of bitching and moaning about the season and my kids don’t have to listen to me bitch and moan. A happy mama doesn’t have to love every part of summer, like all the driving, cooler packing and hours watching others swim. A happy mama does the thing she knows will make her happy even if it requires some schedule tweeking and asking for help. Because when she does this even the stuff that drains her looks differently, feels better. Everything takes on a whole new rosy glow when mama fills up.

What is it you desire to commit to this summer? What will it take? What is more important than doing something for yourself when it makes you a better person all around?

A commitment to yourself doesn’t just fill you up. It’s a refill for the whole table around you.

Cheers, Jenny