20. A New Year’s Re-Centering

Happy Suzday, everyone.

And a healthy start to 2025 for all.

Collectively, we made it through the holiday season, which you know is kind of wild ride. I swear the holidays are like a microcosm of the stress and the ecstasy of raising young kids in our society. 

It feels like everything we tend to throughout the year gets crammed into a pressure-cooker: family issues, wonky routines, logistical puzzles to solve, our children’s highs and lows, and of course, whatever our own bodies and hearts are going through at this particular phase of matresence and human evolution.

So if any part of you is like, “why do I feel like I’m moving through mud, it’s the second week of January already?”, that might be why. If you feel a little tattered, you’re needing some peace and quiet, and a reset of sorts, you’re not alone. 

And I’m glad you’re here.

As we know, there’s a lot of talk this month about goal-setting and intentions for the new year. There’s also, talk of doing away with resolutions and not changing a damn thing, which I see some value in. For the goal-oriented building positive momentum can feel impossible because progress so often looks like taking three steps forward, and two steps back.

Meanwhile, you might have more freedom in your schedule than you’ve had for months. Personally, I feel a little frantic this week, like a little mouse in a big open space, scurrying around to find some hidden cheese. 

And that’s my cue to go within. I learned the saying “don’t just do something, sit there!” 

from my Yoga Nidra teacher Richard Miller, and it’s a useful one for the time of year when we’re slowly picking up speed and setting our course for the seasons ahead.

It’s easy to forsake a slow time because we’re anxious, even though a slow start helps us reset, reconsider where our time, money and energy goes, and fortify ourselves for busier months.

And it makes sense to just keep going. It’s what we’ve had to do since our children were born. Everyday, they’re ready for us whether we’re ready for them or not. 

As intense and transformational life as a mother of young kids is, it doesn’t offer a lot of breaks to regroup and recharge. So we might just have to take those where we can, like when things are chill.

A great way to do that, which helps replenish after the insanely busy time of year we just celebrated the end of, is with the Yogic practice of pratyahara. 

It’s one of “eight limbs of Yoga” which include postures on the mat, breathwork for vital energy, and higher states of meditation and self-realization. The idea of pratyahara is to give your senses a retreat from the outer world.

Now, of this conjures thoughts of floating in a sensory deprivation tank, or attending a silent retreat, those are useful, but withdrawing your senses from the outer world is much more a facet of your daily life than you might realize. 

Sense withdrawal happens during sleep, when your brain turns its functions inward to clean up and form memories. It also happens while we’re awake, when doing something like visualization, or counting the length of our breaths in and out.

I’d even argue that when we pick up our phones to tune out the world and scroll for a bit, we’re really acting on a need to take a sensory break from it all.

Unfortunately, when we try to satisfy that need on our phones etc., we don’t get the refreshing benefit we’d get from, say, the Centering practice I’ll guide you through shortly. We may actually just be adding more to an already overloaded system. 

So, it seems we have a human need to disconnect. And there are more beneficial ways to get that need met.

 As a Mom, this is hugely valuable, if not essential for your mental health. Because on top of  everything digital, your senses face a daily onslaught of jarring noises, bright colors, tiny fingernails, and more. 

You know that feeling of being “touched-out?” That’s your body-mind crying for pratyahara. 

Whether it’s the theme song to your child’s favorite show on PBS Kids, or the visual impact of a floor full of Duplo bricks that gets you into over-stimulation mode, pratyahara is a remedy available to you any time, and I’ll guide you through one way to practice it. 

Welcome to Yoga for Mom-Life. I’m Susana Jones and I help ease common stressors in early motherhood. With practical wisdom and yoga on-demand, raising young kids starts to look and feel more like you’re thriving. Build positive momentum today at YogaforMomLife.com.

So most of what we call “meditating” is really practicing pratyahara: training our attention inward, where wisdom lives. 

Over time, the effect is single-minded focus, known as dharana which B.K.S. Iyengar described as oil pouring from a pitcher in a smooth stream of consciousness. 

For me, this conjures the Ayurvedic treatment Shirodhara, in which warm oil is poured over the center of the forehead, and said to calm the mind via the pineal gland and third-eye chakra. 

Whether you receive that treatment or not, simply bringing your awareness to the middle of the forehead helps cultivate a meditative state of mind.

As a beauty tip, staying aware of my forehead even when I’m surprised or excited keeps my forehead smooth, and my “elevens” under control. This even prompted my aesthetician-friend to ask, “who does your botox, girl?” So there’s a cosmetic benefit to this kind of practice as well. 

I think of this like pausing before creating a vision board. Appreciating the blank, open space. The pure potential of what’s in front of you. The power of choice you have over what fills a lot of that space.

Since a lot of us are making one of those this month, we’ll use vision boards as a metaphor that applies to setting ourselves up on a good course of action and building positive momentum for ourselves.

Harnessing the mind by giving it something to focus on is a helpful place to start, because it’s very easy to get busy right out of the gate, without having a sense of what we’re really after. 

This, as we know by now, can lead to mixed results in life, sometimes referred to as a s-h-i-t show.

Now, the best vision boarding I’ve ever done had a conscious processes behind it. They started with gathering oneself, and summoning a creative mindset that is one with the universe.

Grabbing the scissors, leafing through pages of magazines, and pasting them on in a special way are all supportive acts, like those we do in daily life. On their own, they can be mundane and overwhelming, and maybe we get a bit lost in the details. 

But when those tasks are nestled within a conscious process - where body, mind, and soul are working in unison - your project - whether it’s an inspiring collage or your life itself - takes on a greater meaning and holds power. 

And this can complement any religion, or spiritual path, or none whatsoever. It’s really about tapping into the full greatness of YOU.

The most powerful visioning experience I ever had was facilitated by Rev. Jill Gwen, who led me through prayer and self-inquiry on a vision for my life at a time when I was blatantly confused and stressed-out. 

She had me use markers on poster board, rather than clipping things from magazines, to support the spirit-mind-body connection. This was back in 2019, and every single thing I wrote or drew onto that vision board came to fruition. 

At the time, I needed a break from in-person teaching, and I wrote Zoom on the board. And then COVID shut everything down and I was on Zoom quite a bit, as were you, I imagine. So that was kinda wild.

But whether you’re into manifestation, spirituality, religion, or none of the above, your own life and that of your family, can resemble a well-composed collage of things that serve you on all levels. 

Here to help you re-engage your full self is a special centering practice that came to me on New Year’s Day:

Centering Practice

Inspired by Reiki - means “universal life force energy”

Both a meditative practice and a healing potential that anyone can tap into at any time. ‘Cause it’s universal, and you are a part of that.

Stand in tadasana, mountain pose, with feet hip-width apart and toes pointing forward.

Arms are long by your sides, with palms facing forward.

INhale, extend your arms overhead and join your palms.

EXhale, bring hands to heart, bend your knees and fold your upper-body forward.

INhale, reach the arms up again, and stretch your torso upward

EXhale the arms by your side.

Relax the neck, shoulders, and hands 

And breathe, in and out, through your nose.

Hold your head up high, as if you’re wearing a crown.

Feel your heart beating and your chest moving with your breath.

Smooth inhale, mellow exhale.

Sense your feet well-planted, and your legs sturdy - maybe bring a hand to a wall for support.

Bring awareness to the space above your head.

Imagine a beam of light shining from the upper right, and pausing it’s trajectory above the crown of your head.

INhale, draw this beam of light down from the crown of your head, to shine right between your feet.

EXhale, circle that line around to your left, up to your forehead.

INhale circle it down your right side to your pelvis.

EXhale it up your left side to your throat.

INhale the light down your right side to your navel.

EXhale and draw it up your left side to rest in your heart.

From this place, sense how every area of the body, and all their associated features, emotions, thoughts, and experiences, have received the loving light of your awareness.

Pure awareness.

Feel yourself illuminated, centered, integrated, and secure. Just as you are.

As you feel ready, notice the space around you.

Welcome that light, the power of the universe, to stay with you as you proceed with your day.

Namasté.

So, at the time of this recording, my new website is now live, where you can find my show notes for every episode, and reach out with questions or feedback. 

While you’re there, you can access today’s Centering practice inside my Replenish & Thrive membership, with time-efficient movement and relaxation that supports your mothering journey. 

Have a break that gives more than it takes, at YogaforMomLife.com.

To try out a month of Yoga with yours truly, plus nourishing products from women-owned, earth-friendly brands, check out Caring for Mama’s curated care packages at CaringforMama.co.

Thanks for tuning in, and sharing this show with the Moms you love! It’s Yoga for Mom-Life, and it’s about time.

References

Iyengar, B. K. S. (1966). Light on yoga: Yoga dipika. Schocken Books.

Singh, A. (2022, April 9). Shirodhara - Benefits and importance in Ayurveda. Forrest Ayurveda. https://www.forestessentialsindia.com/blog/shirodhara-benefits-and-importance-in-ayurveda.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo_b6BQZwi0lK3FYT_XqvtUJV4eSegg8XbJGu79-Fr6-R9Uswj5