“They tell me I have got a mind of my own, but sometimes it’s like my mind itself has its own mind.”

–Edith Ann

“Everything is mind. What you think you become.”

–Buddha

We’re about to take off on another adventure, Super-mom style.  This means very little packing and prep—as little as possible, that is, with three children and two kittens.

I learned years ago to pack light—even and especially–with three kids.  I learned that it’s not actually the travel that is exhausting; it’s the stuff we schlep along with us.  Read the rest of this entry »

“All you need is love.”

–John Lennon

“If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?”

–Edith Ann

“If I had to live my life over, when my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said ‘Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.’ There would have been more ‘I love you’s. More I’m sorry’s.”

–Erma Bombeck after learning about her terminal cancer

“Person to person, moment to moment, as we love, we change the world.”

-Samahria Lyte Kaufman

“View all events as opportunities to grow. When this can be done, there are no good or bad events, just opportunities to shine.”

-Rolf Gates

“Madison, what did you learn today while you watched Mommy teach yoga the Global Mala for Peace?”

“I learned that peace doesn’t have to be people in a room with big, beautiful windows. Peace can be anywhere if you want it to be.”

Last autumn I taught at the Global Mala For Peace at the beautiful Boston Cyclorama. September 21st was the chosen date for this event because it’s an International day of peace. So all over the world on this particular day, yogis are practicing asanas and meditating for peace.

Pretty powerful stuff.

The room was magical. The energy palpable. Peace was present.

One of the many things I loved about this event was that it brought together all types of yoga in the name of peace and connection.

The coordinators choose someone to represent many different types of yoga, and I was honored to be chosen to represent Power Yoga.

I was also honored and proud to have two of my children, Madison (age 11) and Sagey (age 4) participating in the event–doing their own version of 108 sun salutations on pink and green mats–front and center.

I smiled with joy and pride as I watched them flow through the asanas as I taught, playing some of their favorite songs, like John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change,” which they both helped me select for the event.

After I finished my teaching piece, the minutes and hours melted away like butter in a pan as we wandered about at the Mala, chatting with students, teachers, and old friends, and checking out the beautiful things being sold by yogis and peace activists.

As a student and friend showed me her new line of yoga tee shirts, I picked one up that said “The answer” on the front and “is love” on the back.

She gave it to me with a smile and told me it would be good advertising for her.

Only later that night would I understand that this was the Universe’s work…

The girls began to get antsy and squabble about whether I was going to buy them BOTH a scarf at one of the booths when I said gently ”Girls, please remember, this is International Peace Day and you’re at the Global Mala for Peace. If you two can’t be at peace with each other, how can all the world be at peace?”

This always causes them to pause—even in the most intense of sibling moments.

When we arrived home from the event some five hours later, the girls were exhausted and I was focused on making their green juice and dinner, connecting with my husband, one-year-old, and two kittens all whom I hadn’t seen since 11am, and getting everyone down to bed on time to start the week right.

After a prolonged juice-drinking and dinner-eating adventure, showers, yoga, meditation, and reading books, I was settling in to nurse one-year-old Phoenix to sleep when I heard a strange and loud jingling sound.

Sagey was asleep and so I knew it was Madison, but what was she doing?

The baby was almost asleep and I was exhausted from a few weeks of lack of sleep due to prepping for and teaching the PRANA CLEANSE the weekend before and the subsequent catch-up that ensues after a big event like that.

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE.

The sound continued and the baby stirred in my arms.

As I sat there attempting to meditate while I nursed, my mind objected and instead figured out what Madison was doing—trying on outfits for school tomorrow, one of which included an Indian belt I had bought her in the East Village of New York city—very gold, very bold, and very JINGLEY.

On and on it went until finally the baby was outright awake and I was outright annoyed, bordering on angry.

Fueled by exhaustion and frustration, I walked out of the baby’s room and into Madison’s room: “What are you doing honey?!”

“Sorry mom,” was all she could say, visibly embarrassed by her absent-minded jingling and up way past her bedtime at that.

After countless hours of asana and meditation, it’s not often that I get frustrated or angry, and so when Madison saw me, her heart sunk.

I could feel that energy and that felt even worse than my exhaustion and frustration at the gold Indian belt that woke my baby up and cost him and me precious sleep.

I went back to Phoenix’s room for “Put down number two” and as I was nursing Phoenix back to sleep and the energy of frustration and anger pulsed through my body and my mind raced, searching for an answer (the way that minds do when you’re in a downward spiral and surrendering into the spiral and letting it go wild): “Why was she still up? Why would she jingle that belt this late at night? She knew I was putting the baby down…she knows better…why?!”

Then it came to me like a flash: The Answer.

“The Answer…is Love.”

My body melted with relief and love filled my body. And I felt at peace.

Phoenix fell asleep a moment later and I went back into Madison’s room where she was waiting up to talk with me.

She began to apologize and I stopped her, saying “It’s OK, Honey. Let it go. I know you didn’t mean to wake the baby up. I love you and that’s all that matters. It’s water under the bridge. Can we begin again?”

I told her how while I was angry and frustrated the tee shirt that my student had given me flashed in front of my eyes: The Answer—-is Love.

Madison smiled and then, clearly touched by this powerful moment of learning, inquired: “Mom? Can I borrow that tee shirt some time?”

“Love hard. Forgive harder. And get as happy as you can as fast as you can.”

-Monique Marvez