When my 13 year-old, Madison, was a toddler, I said to her over and over again as she ate her snacks and meals, “Bottom in the chair!”

And over and over again, she’d pop out of her chair and start moving about, busy as all little toddlers are.

With Sagey, now six, the same thing while she was a toddler, “Bottom in the chair, honey!”

Yet she’d still get up outta that chair and move about.

Phoenix just turned four.  As I was saying this very same phrase to him about a month ago, I noticed, to my surprise, that Super-mom herself was…not eating with HER bottom in the chair.  In fact, (gasp!) I was eating standing up at the counter.

Now I gots five kids Super-people, and so you KNOW why I was standin up.   It was only a matter of seconds before I would need to get up from the chair to get something/help someone/wait on someone, etc.  So why even bother sitting down?

Well!  This is why.

How’s my child ever going to put his/her bottom in the chair and eat sitting down if Mommy is eating standing up?

How did I ever expect my child to do the opposite of what I was doing?  We all know that kids do what we DO, not what we SAY. 

And how on earth did it take me all these years to notice this?

HUGE LOL.

That was Super-mom having a good laugh—at herself.

Not with judgment or frustration or even embarrassment (well, maybe just a little).

Just a good laugh for laughing’s sake.

How many times have I written or thought or said to walk your talk?

More times than I can recall.

Was I walkin my talk at meal and snack time?

Not even close.
Can I see this now and admit it and learn from it?
Absolutely!

And share it wit all my Sisters out there, too, because girlfriends, this is how we learn and grow and transform and…have a good laugh. 

We all have “that” thing—that thing that is our button or our “blind spot.”  Or, perhaps we have many…but we all got at least one.

So ask yourself right now Sister, “Where am I not walking my talk?  And why?”

And then get quiet and listen.

Awareness is key, and even if you’re super aware, or think you are, there are always places you can learn and grow.  We all can!  And that’s the fun part. The learning, the growing, the transforming.

One way to cultivate the awareness, the open-ness to feedback, the ability to see what you are looking at:  get on your yoga mat.  Often.

One of my very first yoga teachers, now a dear friend, used to say while he taught, “I see what I am looking at.”

For the life of me, I never understood what he meant.

Now I do.    (Thanks Rolf!)

So ask yourself, Super-people, “where am I not walking my talk and why?”

And when the answer comes, and it will, be compassionate and gentle with yourself.  Be kind to you.

It’s all just learning.

It’s just the path.

And it’s supposed to be fun.

So lighten up.  Laugh more.  Appreciate more.  All is well.

And get yo’ bottom in the chair the next time you eat.