Family, Isn't it About ... Yoga!

Tonight our family's business was that of yoga.  My sister-in-law, five nieces, one nephew, and yours' truly (moi) gathered in the basement of my brother's house for a family yoga session.  It was a first time yoga session for four of them, and honestly, it thrills me to see my family involved in yoga.  Specifically, I feel so happy to see them resting in Savasana, the final resting pose, after having worked through a challenging vinyasa and asana practice, and finally falling deep into relaxation, stepping (for the first time in a long time) out of the busy hub-bub of life.  It's in that place of Savasana that my emotional, mental, and physical systems renew.  So to see those I love the most getting a taste of that which fills me so deeply truly tickles my fancy!

In addition to those who joined me tonight, I have an aunt who has been attending my yoga classes on Good Karma Tuesdays.  She and my uncle came the first week and she has continued on each week.  Her daughter jumped on the yoga bandwagon during our yoga on the ranch in Montana which led to a path which she's taking to practice yoga regularly at a local studio in Las Vegas.  She's taken it a step further and has her husband attending classes with her.  And then this week, unexpectedly, my aunt showed up with her son who joined us for a restorative class and seemed to find it helpful and relaxing.  I've got nieces and nephews all over the state joining me for classes both at the studio and in their homes.  It tickles me to pieces to see the joy of yoga spreading throughout my family.

And doing yoga as a family makes it even more fun because we have our moments of entertainment (like when I told them that this pose pictured above is called "legs up the wall," and Sydney [in the middle] pipes back in a playfully sarcastic tone, "Well that seems appropriate" [which seemed so funny after hearing all of the other poses such as "Badakanasana" and "Janu Sirsasana]).  We laughed, lying there with our legs up the wall.  Being together as a family in this circumstance felt fun and was a uniting force for us.  It makes me think of a line from The Family: A Proclamation to the World (https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation) in which the prophets say, "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."  I'll second that!

Yoga by itself feels like a piece of heaven.  Yoga with my family feels like a piece of heaven with whipped cream and a cherry on top.  Family and yoga is a good mix! 

(A special thanks to McKahl, Sydney, Chloe, Emma, Claire, Kyle, and Nicki for making this night possible!)

Practice yoga with your family by taking them to http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/.