There are books that you can relate to, and those that you can really relate to.  Brian Leaf's Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi definitely falls into the latter category for me.  It begins, "I am a parent.  I can prove it.  Inside my coat pocket right now are one diaper (clean), one pair of children's underwear (soiled), one unscratched lottery ticket, and countless teething biscuit and rice crumbs....". 

Just last week I compared purse contents with another mama.  While the days of soiled diapers have finally past, I did have 5 clementines, crumpled tissues, and an unidentifiable gooey mass hidden in the corner of my bag. 

In addition to these stories from the trenches, Leaf describes his immersion into alternative parenting approaches and healthy living as he and his wife work to consciously raise their two sons.  Deconstructing Attachment, Simplicity, Playful, and Free-Range parenting in such a way as to make them more digestible.  And connect them in a way that allows parents to pick the method that works for them in the moment.  Describing this  connection as Conscious Parenting,  Leaf essentially provides cliff notes for alternative parenting and raising happy and healthy kids. 

"Make no mistake. I don’t have it all figured out,” Leaf writes. “I’m about as neurotic as the next guy. Maybe just a bit more. And that’s why I know that another sure key to parenting is patience, compassion, forgiveness, and even faith, in my kids, of course, but also in myself.”

This is the heart of yoga.  And what better way to live your yoga, than to practice joyfully with your children?

Namaste Friends,
Kristin Henningsen MS, CH, RYT