Struggling to make time
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SunshineT83
Posts: 158 Member
Hi everyone! I'm just wondering when do most of you tend to practice? I follow a bunch of yogis on IG and I feel like they just have a ton of spare time to practice and take pictures and connect with their mats everyday. While I'm over here a single mother, waking up at 5:45 am, in school full-time, working part-time, cooking, cleaning, doing homework (mine and my child's), making time to spend with my boyfriend, and doing everything I can to not pass out on the sofa at 9pm. So, I guess I just need to know that other people are finding a way despite full schedules. Please share with me your typical daily routines and how you're able to fit in your practice. Thanks Ya'll!!
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I cannot help you, Sunshine. Sounds like things are much harder for you than they are for me. You have a little girl. My two children are grown. But, here's what I do know: When my kids were little the only way I could find time to run was to keep my running shoes and shorts in the car. At the end of the day, I would pick the kids up from daycare. Then I would swing to get the wife. When she got into the car, I would surrender the driver's seat and get out. Then I would run home from there while she drove home with the kids. I would be home 15 to 30 minutes after they got home -- meaning I could cook dinner soon enough that the kids would not start bawling that they were famished, or could occupy the kids while my wife cooked.
It was not ideal. I like to run further than that. But, for that period of time in our lives -- which turned out to be relatively brief -- it was all I could get.
Couldn't you set the alarm for 5:35 AM and get 10-minutes of practice in before your daughter gets up? Or 10 minutes before you collapse on the couch? Or....maybe.....include her? Both of you, doing 10 minutes together, every day? She is not going to last for a long, rigorous session. But if it is short, she might think it was fun, and she might learn some discipline, and you would get a little yoga in. Not much. But a little. And, this time in your life will be over before you know it. And, in the meantime, you will have made some progress in your practice and you will be SO ready for the new phase!
Good luck.2 -
Thank you Tufel, you are right, a little practice is better than no practice at all. Tonight I managed to get in 30 minutes as sort of a wind down for the both of us to get my daughter ready for bed. It worked for tonight. I'm sure I will just have to take each day as it comes and allow myself to be flexible and fit it in wherever I can.0
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I have a pretty easy schedule. I teach three classes a week, do a little other part-time work, and do all the jobs around the house. So I'm one of those people who can practice 2 hours a day. I do not, however, watch any tv - I believe this is the biggest time suck, next is the computer/phone/games (of which I'm completely guilty, and I'm working on this one)
Not everyone can have a 2 hour practice, and I understand that. You can still have a meaningful yoga practice though. One pose a day is a yoga practice. If you're standing in line, and you pay attention to your stance - evenly on the right and left foot, front and back, etc. That will enhance your yoga practice.
Maybe it could be something you and your daughter could do together, like tufel said?
Best of luck.1 -
definitely look into it as family time. or get up a little earlier. or lunch0
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I'm a work-at-home mother of a 5 month old, so I understand some of the time constraints. I try to squeeze in a practice while she's napping, or I'll do some Mommy & Me yoga. I'm picking up a book called Baby Om, which is full of poses for mamas with their babies. There are similar books on the market for older children as well.
Another thing that I'll do is try to slip a few poses in while I'm cooking dinner. That doesn't make for a good mindful practice, but it does help to keep me in the routine.1 -
Maybe wake up 5/10 min earlier and do a few sun salutations or any other good morning poses that you have memorized. I've done that so long it's just a habit for me to do a couple when I first wake up. It's better than nothing.1
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Look up cosmic kids on YouTube. It got my daughter into yoga and she's 6. I was struggling to find time before and now she rushes along motivating me to practice because she can't wait to either now lol1
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I have a similarly insane schedule. I also adopted a puppy, because I thought THAT made sense!?!?!? I have not figured the scheduling thing out. Like, not even close. But one thing I keep examining is whether or not I am adequately using the time when other beings (the kids and the puppy) are being adequately cared for, by someone else. Mostly that time is devoted to my working for a living, so it's not available for anything else. But I am using my lunch hours for yoga now, on days when other things don't take priority. That buys me two yoga practices a week. It's not great, but it's two more than I was getting before. Please let us know what you figure out.0
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Finding time is hard. But I realize that doing #asana versus doing asana is a thing. What we see on social media is mostly misleading. #meditation versus meditation is a big different, you know what I mean?
I make time for yoga about 4 times a week, usually in the morning if I take a live online class, or at night for own practice.0
