Tame the Modern Beast

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to spend two days away at a seminar with one of my favorite authors, Dani Shapiro. The impact of my participation on my family was not insignificant: My dog Suzie Taylor threw up when she saw me packing a suitcase, and my husband Chris had to take two days off work to fulfill my usual parenting duties. "You don't have the hardest job in the world," he said when I came home, "but it isn't so easy, either."

I drove back full of ideas to incorporate into my memoir in progress, and a part of me wished I could have stayed on retreat another week. I was able to run inside only to pee before turning around to drive my son to taekwondo practice, but adorable "welcome back" and "we missed you" signs on the door reminded me why my choice in this stage of life is to prioritize raising my children -- an immense privilege. (On Chris's first day back to his job as a pediatrician, he was in the office until 1 a.m. catching up on forms.) In simultaneous gratitude and overwhelm, I've returned to my daily juggle, always looking for bits of time to fit in the pillars of my sanity: writing, movement and meditation.

All of these things, writing and meditation especially, require something that is in such short supply for everyone: time to focus, with undivided attention. Dani told our group her most important advice was this: When it's time to write (or meditate), disable the Internet. 

It is remarkable to consider the conditions under which yoga and meditation were developed in comparison to the distraction-filled lives in which we practice today. This verse from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th-century text (late by yogic standards), makes me giggle: 

The Yogi should practice Hatha Yoga in a small room, situated in a solitary place, being 4 cubits square, and free from stones, fire, water, disturbances of all kinds, and in a country where justice is properly administered, where good people live, and food can be obtained easily and plentifully.

A few months ago, I started letting my son Maceo check the Screen Time app on my phone each night to hold me accountable for my number of daily pickups. He was supposed to reduce his time on a device if I could minimize the number of times a day I checked my phone. I failed horribly and am trying to do better. It feels both liberating and nerve-wracking to me when my phone is fully powered off, as it was during some of Dani's seminar. I think of the day in 2023 when my son Paxton broke his arm, while I was in an appointment and didn't answer the first call. What if one of my kids had a genuine emergency and couldn't reach me? But what are the actual chances, and how much sanity are we willing to sacrifice when we don't allow ourselves any quiet? 

This month, I am sharing with you a 16-minute meditation my mom recorded about energetic assimilation, known in yoga as samana vayu. (Click here for free access to this and more than 40 other audio meditations and breathing practices.) My mom often asked us in her teaching to visualize white light; in this practice, the light pictured at the naval center is multicolored, incorporating the many facets we all juggle, tapping into our capacity to handle more than we realize. 

See below for more ideas to stay grounded in the thick of it all... I need them just as much as you.

Love,
Sara

Infuse a little calm into the chaos with these tips

A few of the September offerings from my Yoga for Overwhelmed Moms account on Instagram: 

- A little brain teaser to calm you.
- A cheat sheet to balance your energy.
- A quick release for tight traps.
- Wake up your whole body with joint rotations. 
- And when all else fails: Meditating in the car is better than nothing!