The steepest path to enlightenment

I spent my twenties meditating for hours and then journaling for even more hours about my spiritual “awakenings.” I read the Bhagavad Gita and studied the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. I even had a ‘to-do’ list of spiritual retreats & ecstatic experiences I wanted to attend (or consume, I shall say?). I thought I had earned a lot of spiritual stars. 💪🏼

And then I became a mother.

And everything I thought I knew about peace and patience and “enlightenment” was shocked and shaken. I met my shadows, darkness, and unresolved wounds like never before. Frustration, anger, grief and joy - the rainbow of emotions that the mundane madness and heart exploding life with a child brings.

Meditation and journaling and yoga and all these spiritual practices do give us tools. But it is in the powerful and devotional process of caring for a child that we put those skills to use and do the real work.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that parenthood is what makes  life meaningful or valuable! I am rather saying that being closely involved in the raising of a child helps you get back to your humanity and enables you to express your highest self - fast and steep. 

What does it feel like to raise a child? It feels like they are raising you.

The relationship between you and your child will stretch you 

• to become patient by giving you opportunities to practice patience;

• to become more loving not because you want to be, but because any other response will leave you more frustrated;

• to see all of the patterns of re-action that you have learned throughout your life, and to exercise your ability to respond with more kindness.

Thank you Ayurveda & Yoga wisdoms for being my guiding lights in times where I felt depleted, undernourished, or disconnected from myself. I turned my bed pillow into a meditation cushion while breastfeeding in the middle of the night, cooked medicinal ghee and formulated Ayurvedic herbal elixirs to support me and my little one through these challenging times.

Thank you, Eno, for leading me to find my magic.