Yoga with the Family
I love yoga. It brings me so much joy and peace in my life, and I've recently been so blessed to learn that there is nothing better than sharing that joy and peace with my husband and daughter.
The physical aspect of yoga is only a small portion of the benefit of yoga. It is easy for my 4 year old! I just send her to class and she loves it and learns... My husband is a different story. It took several trials and errors to get my husband to begin his yoga journey. I made a mistake that I think many women do…. I brought him to an "all level yoga class” that I had never tried (bad idea, boo); it happened to be a 108 sun salutations class (even worse, boo!). Let's also add that this was New Year's day when we walked in together, and the class was full of instructors…
First red flag? There was an instructor in the corner doing hand stand push ups to warm up! I wanted to grab my husband's mat and run for the door in hopes to stop the screaming train rolling down the tracks toward us! The EGO train!!!!!
No man with limited yoga ability would have made it through that class (and not ONLY because of the degree of difficulty - but also due to his inability to be the dreaded “worst” yogi in the room!). Now the funny thing about yogis is that they actually don’t think that way :) We get on our mats and turn inward, but the novice practitioner does not know that and therefore the newbie mind goes to EGO...then flight or flight.... then RUN! Run for your life! He was out of there. He walked home that day and did not speak to me for 3 days. He also did not practice for 3 years.
I slowly got him to come around… When on vacation I would suggest a yoga class at the resort knowing that those are geared toward beginners. Then we started having an instructor come to our home each week. Everyone, especially men, requires the explanation of postures so they don’t feel like a fish out of water. Yoga should be relaxing, but in the beginning everything is stressful including yoga. It's about jumping that hurdle. Getting past it and then enjoying the practice and best of all with family!
I'm SO proud of our family group process and my husband's willingness to try again and experience the true benefits of this practice together. Now, he reminds ME to go to class!
How'd that happen?
Have you guys ever tried yoga with your family before? I would love to hear how it went!
Comment below to share your story!
xo
C