Taking a Break

In sticking with this week's theme, part of accepting where we are is knowing when to take a break. This week, I've been ON. Determined to honor my commitment to myself and to my son (Happy Mommy means Happy Baby, right?), I have made more effort to reestablish my daily yoga practice.

Saturday I taught, and I made it to the studio later for a practice. Sunday I made it to the studio to practice. Monday I managed a 30 minute home practice AND taught at the studio. Tuesday, after a VERY taxing day of Being a Mom, I completed Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred AND managed a 30 minute home practice, all after 10:30 p.m. when the baby finally fell asleep.

Tuesday night was challenging. I had trouble falling asleep, my brain just wouldn't turn off. The baby woke at 2:15 a.m. to eat and snuggle - a mere 45 minutes or so after I'd finally fallen asleep. Groggily, I went to him, and didn't make it back to bed until after 3. He woke again around 7:15 a.m. I could barely move. This kind of night has been rare for us, since the baby was 6 weeks old he's generally slept through the night for at least 7 hour stretches, but usually 8 or 9. Last week, after he received his 4 month shots, he woke every night at least once. The previous week we visited my grandmother for 5 days, and he woke every night at least once. I know this type of sleeping pattern is "standard" for most moms of babies the same age as my son, but 3 weeks of this and

I'm starting to run out of steam.

It's like those early days/weeks for me, except without the new baby euphoria to keep me going. Wednesday I had full intentions of continuing this way, even if for only 30 minutes (30 minutes is, after all, more than nothing). That morning we were both exhausted from the restless night, and took a long nap. He woke for a few hours, to eat and play, and then took another long nap while I visited with my brother. He slept more during the day than he has in several weeks. So Wednesday night, after cleaning up the kitchen, making banana muffins, putting the baby to bed, noticing I had a bit of a sore throat, and wondering for a brief moment - as I sometimes do - why nursing has to be so draining on the mother's body (after all, wouldn't it make more sense to energize the mother so she would be better equipt to care for her infant?) I took a cue from my son. Instead of beginning my workout and my yoga practice at 10:30 p.m. like the night before, I decided to take a break. Recharge my batteries.

So instead of a yoga practice, I had two of my fresh baked muffins, a big glass of soy milk, and a short meditation before bed.

In the corner of my mind, I couldn't help but decide that I definitely needed to practice on Thursday, and maybe even complete Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred again. After all, a plan isn't a bad thing to have, as long as we're open to life not exactly unfolding as we plan.