I’m a yoga teacher, my kids know this, but aside from pictures I don’t think they’ve ever seen me practice in person. This blew my mind, I practice pretty much every day, mostly before they wake up or while they’re at school or at a studio so I feel like I’m constantly on my mat, but not in front of them. That changed today, I was feeling that mid morning agitation and I just needed to create some space, so I rolled out my mat. Their eyes got as big as saucers and of course Stella had to point out I was in my night gown and she could see my undies. Still I practiced. Body image is a big thing for us, Stella is super sensitive to her curviness and I struggle with my post pregnancy body more now than ever so I felt like this was a perfect moment for my girls to see me embracing my real body, not photo shopped, not sucking in, but real. Yes I have lumps and “dents” and I’m wider than usual but guess what? I’m strong, I love my body and the practice, I’ve carried and delivered three healthy babies and that’s hard! So I let them see me move on my mat, and while my stress began to melt I also felt a lot of that negative self talk melt away too! It’s not about perfection, it never has been and it never will be, it’s about embracing the practice and learning from every moment you can! Stella wanted to snap a picture but of course she had to add a belly laugh and a warning, “mom, I can see your butt!”