The Mediocre Mom's Guide to Greatness

Monday June 7th, 2010

Today’s Activity:

Go clear your head at a yoga class.

Note:

Most city rec centers offer yoga classes for around $5 and some yoga studios even offer your first class for free.

Evaluate:

I was SO glad that I went to yoga!  My head was been so clogged with dumb unimportant stuff and right after yoga I felt so clear.  Suddenly I was able to make a really hard decision that I’d been pushing to the back of my mind for weeks.  Not only did it clear my head enough to make this decision but it also helped me be more patient with my children.  And that is why I <3 yoga!

Tags: center, children, clear, peace, yoga
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Thursday December 17th, 2009

Today’s Activity:

Go to a Yoga class to help relieve some of the holiday stress.

Note:

I realize I’ve had you focusing on yourself a lot this month but I think that with all the Christmas parties, cooking, and shopping going on this month that we can’t forget to take care of ourselves.  Don’t forget about the kids but it will be a lot easier to find those special moments with them if you aren’t totally stressed out.

Evaluate:

I wasn’t able to make it out to yoga so I put down my mat in my room, set the timer for 10 minutes and pretended I was in the last 10 minutes of a class.  Basically I just laid there, it was great!  I also came up with a new affirmation, “I am a fun and attentive mother and I find joy in my day to day responsibilities.”  I’m in need of a little pick me up so hopefully these positive thoughts will help.

Tags: indoor, yoga
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Thursday December 10th, 2009

Today’s Activity:

Say yes today.

Note:

It can be to anything you would normally say no to (that doesn’t put them in harms way of course).

Evaluate:

Today Elese asked if she could play with my yoga mat.  Generally this gets a no for an answer because I end up tripping over it all day.  Today I said yes.  Once she was on the yoga mat I took a little time to show her some poses that are named after animals…together, in down dog, we barked and growled; it was really fun.  Plus, it helped me with this months goal.  Are you being more active?  (PS the picture above is from about 1 year ago)

Max has been sick and home from school and it’s sort of driving me crazy.  I’ve lost my me time to read for about 10 minutes and then work on extra projects or get some house work done without interruption.   Don’t think I’m a horrible mom for not just sitting and caring for him…he really has the energy of a healthy kid he just has the runs and doesn’t quite run fast enough to the bathroom, not a great thing to send to school.  Anywho, I wanted to work on my stuff but he asked me to sit with him and I said yes.  Together we watched Shark Boy and Lava girl on the Disney Channel and I laughed at the young Taylor what’s his face from Twilight.  It was very enjoyable…and excessively cheesey…but the time with Max was superb!

Tags: movie, time, yes, yoga
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Wednesday December 9th, 2009

Today’s Activity:

Exercise on your own today.

Note:

Here are the same suggestions I gave you last week:

Us an exercise DVD

Go to the gym

Shovel the walks

Do some squats

Calf Raises

Go for a walk

Evaluate:

When I realized this was what I had to do today I wasn’t thrilled.  Although today is really the only day I have the chance to go to the gym it was the last thing on my mind.  But as the day went on I got more excited about it.  First I went to Zumba.  I heart  Zumba and if you have never been I suggest going.  It’s like a party but the best non-food party EVER.   You are burning TONS of calories and having fun at the same time.  Plus the instructor that I go to is my favorite because she a young mom and she’s pregnant and she’s easier to follow than some others that I’ve had.

After Zumba I went to yoga.  Honestly, I wasn’t very excited because the instructor that taught isn’t my favorite…really push-ups in yoga?  That’s not yoga to me.  But…it ended up being much better than I expected.  The main thing is that I get used to the instructors I see the most and when I get someone else it’s a little frustrating.  So after two hours I burned probably around 800 calories, had a break from my kids and took out some stress on the dance for…not too shabby.  For me exercising is something that I never really want to do but once I’m there doing it I can’t wait to go back again….then I forget and don’t want to go next time…it’s a cycle.

Tags: exercise, yoga, zumba
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Enrich Your Life

There are so many ways to enrich our lives but first we have to decide how we want to enrich it.  So first of all what is your focus?  What to you feel like you are lacking?  Are you discouraged?  Maybe you need to enrich your spirit.  Are you tired?  Then enrich your body.  To you feel like an idiot when you play Trivial Pursuit (I do)?  Then enrich your mind. Here are a few suggestions.

Spirit: (This may very depending on your beliefs)

• Read a book that coincides with your beliefs.
• Set time aside everyday when you can have a least a couple quiet minutes to pray.
• Meditate…yoga has taught me how helpful meditation can be.  Not sure how to meditate?  Start by either laying or sitting down.  If you are laying down it helps to place your hands on your belly.  You will feel your stomach rise and fall and this will help you settle down.  If you are focusing on something in particular then chant it in your mind (i.e. Healthy, Happiness, Calm…etc).  By chanting in your mind you will keep your mind from wandering.  You could also just count as you breath…breath in for 4 counts and out for 4 counts etc.  You can always play music if you would like but when you get really good at it the quiet is really the best thing.  I’m not an expert at meditation so if you want to learn more I say check out a book from the library.   Our lives get so full that we never stop and breath and that is hard on our spirits and also keeps us from feeling any sort of connection with God or whatever power you believe in.
• Attend a yoga class.  If you think yoga is cooky then you are missing out…don’t think of it is a religion (some people do for some reason).  At the end of the class they will likely say Namaste.  I once heard an attempted translation of the word Namaste and it was “I respect the divinity in you.”  What an awesome word!
• Go outside and enjoy nature.

Body

• Do your hair today. 
• Go for a hike.
• Walk a mile or two or seven.
• Go to an aerobic class.  When you are in a class it is a lot harder to give up.  You will be so impressed with what your body is capable of.  You may be sore the next day but take pride in that pain.
• Have a race with your children.
• Try (or do) to do a cartwheel or a summer salt.  I had a friend whose mom could do a cartwheel and I thought she was SO cool!
• Set a physical goal for yourself.  Learn to swim, Run a mile (or seven) straight, choose a hike you’ve always wanted to do and work up to completing it, re-learn to do a cartwheel, learn a hard yoga pose, work out 3 times a week (you set the number of times), do 20 push-ups during the commercial breaks….
• Look in the mirrior and focus on your favorite feature, be proud of it.
• Take pride in your stretch marks…refer to them as battle wounds…remember that you would NEVER trade your child for a stretch markless body.

Mind

• Learn the meaning of a new word.
• Read all the Trivial Pursuit cards and memorize some of the answers. 
• Don’t use a calculater next time you balance the check book.
• Do your child’s homework with them.
• Choose a subject you want to know more about and read a book about it.
• If someone says something you don’t fulling understand then look into it.
• Eat brain foods.
• When you child asks you why the sky is blue take the time to find out.
• Embrace your child’s excitement about learning and learn with them.

Tags: body, enrich, meditation, mind, spirit, yoga
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