Mommy Adventures: Yoga, chanting, and potty training

Discipline...my life's work, happiness, and spiritual fulfillment, rests in that very word. Actualizing my discipline is perhaps my greatest challenge. I realized, from the words of a wise friend, that mastering something is about the discipline of continuing the process, no matter what. I also recognize that discipline takes letting go of wanting instant gratification; it is about a journey and getting better with time.

Many of the tasks in my life now, as a woman with a vision and as a mother, are centered around my discipline. My success depends on how much energy I put into my tasks, on a daily basis. The challenge comes when I face perpetual difficulty or no real sense of forward movement. Case in point, potty training my daughter is an act of discipline that has proven to be quite a challenge. The question becomes, how do you potty train a child that wakes up chanting, "no more potty" repeatedly?!

I have tried everything I can think of and suggestions of others but,  I understand that to stop now, would be feeding my own "shadow behavior." This is a term coined by my spiritual teacher that speaks to the unhealthy habits that will continue to overshadow our growth, if we continue to "give in" to them. My unhealthy habit is giving up sometimes, when things get tough or seem impossible.

Yoga and meditation have been an integral part of my life and my spiritual journey for several years. It grounds me, breathes life into everything I do; meditation brings me beautiful clarity and focus for my life. The challenge for me has been doing my daily practice, no matter what else is happening in my life. When I become overwhelmed, I usually let go of my daily practice.

How do I make sure to keep up with my discipline now? I utilize every moment I can to plug into it. So lately, while I have been sitting with my daughter, while she is on the potty; we chant together and I do my postures. Sometimes I sing songs, read to her, and focus on trying to get her to potty. But, we have been going at this for many months now and knowing my daughter, she just needs to be left to her own "doing." She is such an old soul and makes it very clear that she does certain things in her time. Now, while I am disciplining myself to consistently get her on the potty everyday, we take that time to be in our own process. I know that if I continue to place her on that potty, with deliberate action and discipline, she will succeed and so will I.

The message for me is to continue doing what I need to do, no matter the immediate outcome. It would be easy for me to throw my hands up and take a break from the daily rigor of potty training. But, in order for to make a breakthrough in letting go of this lifelong habit, I have to use every possible opportunity to further my own development. Juggling motherhood and my personal development has to be interconnected because there is just not enough time in the day to carve out enough moments for self-work. So, until my babies are old enough to be a little more independent, I will be blending my yoga with potty training and every other motherly duty!