Different Mommies
As i walk to the shala, I meet a father with his baby on a stroller. He is taking turns with the mother to practice. So many children around in Mysore this time! So beautiful to see the new generations living the experience of Yoga also. They remind me of my own children, far away in distance but here in my heart, so present in every breath. So grateful for these souls who have chosen us as their way in to this world. As the Gita says, the highest souls choose parents who are yogis.
I feel the honor and also the responsibility. My seven children are my greatest treasure and Yoga has given me many tools for transformation. Whatever I can offer them comes from my humble experience in this path of love.
My yoga practice has taught me so much. Above all, patience and humility. India has taught me a lot also: in my tenth trip as I am writing, I feel now the capacity to find deep order behind the chaos. It was not always like this and I used to feel so trapped and lonely amidst the daily drama of life. Not anymore.
In my past life as a lawyer, I was lacking the presence and equanimity to raise children with awareness. But even before Yoga found me, I always appreciated the gift of a life growing inside of me and the blessing of these amazing beings as part of my spiritual practice.
They have taught me and teach me so much about detachment and freedom. Many parents, especially in my country Costa Rica, do not pursue their dreams and then put unncessary expectations upon their children. A happy father and mother raises children that will search for their own true happiness and freedom. It´s inevitable.
Family life, pregnancy and raising a baby mean continuous, unstoppable change. Change in all its colors and shades. Practice held me during times of doubt, sadness and disappointment. I know the presence of my teachers is a constant reminder that life is an adventure to be lived, not a burden to be carried.
In my past life and ignorance, I was so blind to even consider my children an obstacle for my spiritual path. As I travel day by day, trying to surrender a little more every day, I keep realizing they are my highway to God. My body an instrument for their passage into this life.
With my first child, I was very young but somehow found a teacher to practice Yoga. She was a very old lady who taught in a very sketchy neighbourhood back in my country and Yoga was considered bad omen in those days where I live. Hernán, my son, has a depth that is rare amongst 23 -year olds. His natural presence lead him to Ashtanga when he was 15, to music and now psychology in Germany. I miss him.
My daughter Adriana was here in Mysore with me three years ago. I almost lost her in my belly and had to take rest for many months. Even though I could not practice asana in those months, my days were filled with music from my piano and she grew to be a wonderful artist and soul searcher.
Ariel, my third, is a mixture of passion and intensity. We are very much alike. His pregnancy was full of uncertainty and yet, now that I look back, he helped me to wake up and take my first steps of independence. His natural tenderness always touches my heart and I do hope he will take yoga fully in the future.
My fourth baby, Gabriel, came to me also in moments of despair and pain. Being a single mother with four children was not easy. My life was in such turnmoil in those years and I look back to realize those years of suffering are gone thanks to my yoga practice.
My good karma took me to India and then to Mysore. In those days, Yoga was just starting in Costa Rica and it took a lot of determination and courage to drop my legal practice and change it for a backpack to travel to the other side of the world. I had heard about Guruji from a dear teacher friend in the US and finding the shala was a blessing.
As I write today in my tenth trip to India, I realise my children are my inspiration to keep going. Life is short and we need to do what we love. My life in Costa Rica is now full of harmony and inspiration. I remarried and had three more babies with my second hubby. It´s been a roller-coaster of love and has taken such deep faith and trust that I would have not found without guidance. Above all, I have found the inspiration I need from my teachers and their example of devotion to their own paths.
Yoga woke me up to the beauty in myself and my family. Each pregnancy and delivery have been a challenge, but I wouldn´t change a single day of my life. Each kid is my teacher in depth, humour, creativity, tenderness and joy. And my practice helps me stay awake so I don´t miss them, helps me calm my mind so I can really be there for them and enjoy the power of their presence.
My children are a vital part of my spiritual path. It makes me sad sometimes when I hear women saying that children are too much responsibility and that they will ruin their bodies for practice. On the contrary, my practice today has a strong motivation and that is called Love. I hope my heart can open every day wider and wider to the beauty that surrounds me. Now I understand Guruji´s words about family being the seventh series.
The first time I came to Mysore, I knocked on Guruji´s door and he welcomed me into his home. He took me upstairs where his grandchildren were playing, Saraswati was doing laundry and we sat in silence in the middle of this perfect scene. I had come from so far to find my Guru as a happy grandfather and father. Now I understand he was teaching me the biggest lesson of all.
He was teaching me the meaning of love.
That´s yoga for me.
Mysore, India.
Enero 2013
As i walk to the shala, I meet a father with his baby on a stroller. He is taking turns with the mother to practice. So many children around in Mysore this time! So beautiful to see the new generations living the experience of Yoga also. They remind me of my own children, far away in distance but here in my heart, so present in every breath. So grateful for these souls who have chosen us as their way in to this world. As the Gita says, the highest souls choose parents who are yogis.
I feel the honor and also the responsibility. My seven children are my greatest treasure and Yoga has given me many tools for transformation. Whatever I can offer them comes from my humble experience in this path of love.
My yoga practice has taught me so much. Above all, patience and humility. India has taught me a lot also: in my tenth trip as I am writing, I feel now the capacity to find deep order behind the chaos. It was not always like this and I used to feel so trapped and lonely amidst the daily drama of life. Not anymore.
In my past life as a lawyer, I was lacking the presence and equanimity to raise children with awareness. But even before Yoga found me, I always appreciated the gift of a life growing inside of me and the blessing of these amazing beings as part of my spiritual practice.
They have taught me and teach me so much about detachment and freedom. Many parents, especially in my country Costa Rica, do not pursue their dreams and then put unncessary expectations upon their children. A happy father and mother raises children that will search for their own true happiness and freedom. It´s inevitable.
Family life, pregnancy and raising a baby mean continuous, unstoppable change. Change in all its colors and shades. Practice held me during times of doubt, sadness and disappointment. I know the presence of my teachers is a constant reminder that life is an adventure to be lived, not a burden to be carried.
In my past life and ignorance, I was so blind to even consider my children an obstacle for my spiritual path. As I travel day by day, trying to surrender a little more every day, I keep realizing they are my highway to God. My body an instrument for their passage into this life.
With my first child, I was very young but somehow found a teacher to practice Yoga. She was a very old lady who taught in a very sketchy neighbourhood back in my country and Yoga was considered bad omen in those days where I live. Hernán, my son, has a depth that is rare amongst 23 -year olds. His natural presence lead him to Ashtanga when he was 15, to music and now psychology in Germany. I miss him.
My daughter Adriana was here in Mysore with me three years ago. I almost lost her in my belly and had to take rest for many months. Even though I could not practice asana in those months, my days were filled with music from my piano and she grew to be a wonderful artist and soul searcher.
Ariel, my third, is a mixture of passion and intensity. We are very much alike. His pregnancy was full of uncertainty and yet, now that I look back, he helped me to wake up and take my first steps of independence. His natural tenderness always touches my heart and I do hope he will take yoga fully in the future.
My fourth baby, Gabriel, came to me also in moments of despair and pain. Being a single mother with four children was not easy. My life was in such turnmoil in those years and I look back to realize those years of suffering are gone thanks to my yoga practice.
My good karma took me to India and then to Mysore. In those days, Yoga was just starting in Costa Rica and it took a lot of determination and courage to drop my legal practice and change it for a backpack to travel to the other side of the world. I had heard about Guruji from a dear teacher friend in the US and finding the shala was a blessing.
As I write today in my tenth trip to India, I realise my children are my inspiration to keep going. Life is short and we need to do what we love. My life in Costa Rica is now full of harmony and inspiration. I remarried and had three more babies with my second hubby. It´s been a roller-coaster of love and has taken such deep faith and trust that I would have not found without guidance. Above all, I have found the inspiration I need from my teachers and their example of devotion to their own paths.
Yoga woke me up to the beauty in myself and my family. Each pregnancy and delivery have been a challenge, but I wouldn´t change a single day of my life. Each kid is my teacher in depth, humour, creativity, tenderness and joy. And my practice helps me stay awake so I don´t miss them, helps me calm my mind so I can really be there for them and enjoy the power of their presence.
My children are a vital part of my spiritual path. It makes me sad sometimes when I hear women saying that children are too much responsibility and that they will ruin their bodies for practice. On the contrary, my practice today has a strong motivation and that is called Love. I hope my heart can open every day wider and wider to the beauty that surrounds me. Now I understand Guruji´s words about family being the seventh series.
The first time I came to Mysore, I knocked on Guruji´s door and he welcomed me into his home. He took me upstairs where his grandchildren were playing, Saraswati was doing laundry and we sat in silence in the middle of this perfect scene. I had come from so far to find my Guru as a happy grandfather and father. Now I understand he was teaching me the biggest lesson of all.
He was teaching me the meaning of love.
That´s yoga for me.
Mysore, India.
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