Yoga is
everywhere these days! When someone says “yoga,” images of various postures
like the tree, downward dog, lotus, child poses pop up in our minds right?
Well, according to an interview I had with two yoga instructors of SoilSound (http://www.soilsound.com),
Valencia Wood and Joseph Murray, yoga is more than postures. Valencia and
Joseph not only explained the history of yoga, but also how it can help in
parenting!
For more than 5,000 years, yoga has
been practiced by many and currently, approximately 11 million Americans are
enjoying its health benefits. Yoga started as a meditation practice and now in
the Western world, it has become more posture-focused. Valencia and Joseph practice Nāda yoga, which has its roots in India, and is based on the premise that all
things that exist in the universe are interconnected and consists of sound
vibrations, called nāda. It essentially uses
sound and vibrations, as in music, to engage in mindfulness as well as in various
poses to reap the health benefits ranging from relaxation to weight and
cholesterol control.
Both Joseph and
Valencia shared their personal stories of how yoga helped them in adjusting to
life’s challenges. For Joseph, yoga played a major role in battling a malignant
cancer of the kidneys called Wilms tumor, which involved him getting a grueling
7 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Valencia turned to yoga when she lost her
mother and sister in 2000 and 2008, respectively. The emotional difficulties of
losing her loved ones impacted her negatively and with time came to realize “I’ve
got to do something!” She stated that yoga not only helped her cope with her
losses, but also gain perspective, tolerance, and patience with people who she
would have previously considered to be “rude.” Today, both Joseph and Valencia are
healthy people who radiate with positive energy! They are working hard to
promote yoga in our daily lives, especially for folks living in urban areas
where fast pace is the rule rather than the exception. When you are around these
two, one cannot help but want to give them big hugs!
After discussing
the many health benefits, we also talked about how yoga can help in parenting. My
favorite topic of course! Joseph has three teenage kids so he had lots to say! To
sum it up, he feels yoga helps the parents in mindfulness, guides them when
disciplining, promote patience and empathy in the parent. This reminded of many instances when
therapists teach calming techniques to children when they are angry. Children
are often instructed to count to ten to help them calm down during an anger
outburst. Therapy and yoga have many things in common and this is an example of
how mindfulness can be utilized to get the child to focus on something else that
reduces the stress or anger. A simple,
but very powerful strategy indeed!
Of course, above
all we know that our children learn from watching their parents so yoga will
ultimately help the kids learn effective coping strategies when they witness
their parents use it! In fact, for this reason alone I signed up my 7 year old
son for a summer camp that included yoga taught by Valencia and Joseph. Later,
we both signed up for their family yoga sessions along with another friend of
mine with her son. I really wanted my
son to learn how to relax and be mindful rather than being constantly
stimulated, which I know can create much stress later in life. Undoubtedly, this
will be an interesting process for a 7 year old as well as rich learning
experience! Namaste!
