Week two of the Sadhana Challenge begins today! How are you doing? Remember to be kind to yourself; if you haven’t made it every day, don’t worry. Simply re-affirm your commitment and try again. What works for me is to make a commitment each day to start again the next day. It seems more digestable and do-able that way.
Chandra already shared her experience in a post yesterday, and some of our other community members will be posting about theirs, too.
An email from Pushpa, one of our yogini initiates and a new mother, warmed my heart, and I wanted to share it with you. Read more to see how this mother of a newborn has worked the Sadhana Challenge into her own schedule…
Well, the challenge for me has been…challenging, to say the least. Seraphina usually wakes up around 4:30 to start her cluster-feeding which continues off and on until around 11 am. During the wee hours of the morning (especially the times between 6am and 8 am), I’ll find myself Om-Krim-Kalyai-Namahing while Sera lays there sucking away at a boob. Then I fall asleep while she feeds only to awaken again a short time later because she lost the nipple somehow. So, in my bizarre sleepy state of mind, I re-position the boob, ready-aim-and..fire the nipple into her little hungry “O” shaped mouth, milk dripping everywhere, on me, on her, on the blankets, on everything. She’ll start to suckle again and I look up through the windows remembering the sadhana challenge and go into mental mantras again as I lean my body closer to hers, attempting to best position myself so the nipple keeps good contact.
Then, oops, I fall asleep again only to wake up 10-15 minutes later because Sera is crying again – needs to be burped, needs more food, needs to have her diaper changed, etc…
Somehow, in the middle of my morning chaos, I find it inspiring to know that there are others awake with me at this bizarre morning time, trying their best to meditate or practice sadhana in whatever way they can. Even though my meditation and practice is limited by the baby, there is something inherently beautiful about waking up each morning, looking outside the window as the sun barely creeps its way onto the horizon and thinking that the mantras I’m saying are somehow resonating with others during this same time.
Hopefully I can build more on the meditation itself and maybe include some yoga later on, but for now I’m just mantra-ing every day.
The best part about the challenge: having Seraphina fall asleep in the crook of my arm with her little face resting on my breast, tummy filled with milk as I drift away into a brief slumber while repeating mantras in my head. 🙂
You’re such an inspiration, Pushpa Maa! And this is what the Challenge is all about – finding where your practice can fit into your life, first thing in the morning. Making space for it wherever you can find space – even if that is in the middle of breastfeeding your newborn child.
How have you fit the Challenge into your life? What have been your ups and downs, and what has been the best part? Leave a comment and let us know!
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