The Wisdom of Yoga in Everyday Parenting
How does the wisdom of Yoga inform the unpredictable, sometimes chaotic life of a parent? Sarah Ezrin, author of The Yoga of Parenting: 10 Yoga-Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself offers wise and practical strategies for understanding how the many challenges of parenting can be better managed with Yoga.
Sarah Ezrin is a freelance writer, yoga educator, and mama based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarah is author of the book we will be discussing today, The Yoga of Parenting: 10 Yoga-Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself. Sarah is a frequent contributor to Yoga Journal, Yoga International and LA Yoga. She has been interviewed in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Bustle.com, and she has appeared on NBC news. She also writes for parenting outlets, including Healthline-Parenthood, Scary Mommy, Motherly, Healthline, and Mind Body Green. Sarah leads teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats locally in California and across the globe.
Sarah Ezrin’s website is: sarahezrinyoga.com
#yoga #parenting #prana #sthira #sukha #empathicparenting
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Sarah was an inspiration as she shared her knowledge of Yoga principals, child development and some of the newest information about parenting. Sarah advocates that parents keep their own energy strong along with the idea of increasing our ability as parents to stay present to our children using Yoga poses and principals. Sarah's use of the Yoga principals of Sthira, which means steady and strong and Sukha, which means soft and sweet are perfect for describing what is now considered in Child Development research the best parenting style. Sarah Ezrin offered a very strong case for staying present for our children using Yoga poses, breath or pauses along with the idea of filling our own energy needs in order to provide quality time over quantity of time with our children.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I love how Sarah wove together information about child development, yogic wisdom, and parenting information in both her book and in our conversation. Our discussion began with questioning the idea of what it means to be a “perfect” parent, stressing the importance of being present with our children and with ourselves as one of the critical factors. Applying the yogic concepts of steady practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya) to parenting encourages parents to keep trying while avoiding grasping too tightly at a desired outcome, leaving our children with the opportunity to explore and develop competence without us stepping in immediately to show them the “right” way to do things.