Yoga meets Motherhood: Remembering the Breath in the Everyday

Motherhood is the most profound practice I’ve ever stepped into—and it’s also the most demanding. Far beyond the mat, it asks me to stretch in ways no posture ever could: patience when I’m weary, presence when I’m distracted, compassion when I feel spent.

With four children and a husband who travels most of the week, my days are full. And in the evenings—when bedtime routines test my last threads of energy—I often catch myself forgetting. Forgetting the breath. Forgetting my mantras. Forgetting the softness that I so lovingly bring to my mat.

This is where yoga meets motherhood. Not in perfect stillness or flowing sequences, but in the remembering.

Ram Dass once said, “Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.” That knowing or remembering is the very heartbeat of yoga. It isn’t about never being triggered, never raising your voice, or always feeling serene. It’s about noticing when you’ve drifted, and gently returning. Again and again.

The Everyday Dharma of Motherhood

In yogic philosophy, dharma is our truth, our path, our sacred duty. As mothers, our dharma may look like holding space for our children’s growth, or tending the endless needs of family life. But woven into all of it is the call to remember:

• To pause in the kitchen and place a hand on the heart.

• To take three conscious breaths before answering the hundredth question of the day.

• To witness the rising irritation, and instead of spiraling, to soften—even just a little.

This is yoga, too.

Simple Ways to Remember Through the Day

Because the truth is—we forget. The chaos pulls us in. That’s why creating touchstones for remembering is so powerful:

🌿 Breath Breaks: Choose one daily activity—washing dishes, folding laundry, waiting at school pickup—and use it as a reminder to return to your breath. Three deep inhales, three slow exhales. A reset in real time.

📿 Mala Beads: Keep a mala nearby, and let your fingers move bead by bead as you silently repeat a mantra like “I am here, I am love.” Even one round can shift your state.

🙏 Prayer or Affirmation: Write a simple prayer on a sticky note by your bedside: “May I meet my children with patience and love today.” Begin and end your day with it, letting it anchor your intention.

Coming Back, Again and Again

Yoga in motherhood is not about perfection. It is about presence. It’s about noticing when we’ve lost our way, and with tenderness, returning to the breath, the heart, the soul.

And perhaps that is the deepest teaching of all: that every moment, no matter how messy or mundane, is another invitation to come home.

As Ram Dass reminded us, our dharma is the remembering. And in motherhood, the remembering becomes not just our practice—but our gift to the ones we love most.