S P A C E

I’ve been thinking about space.

You know when you’re in a Yoga class and there’s this few minutes of space and time when the workout part is done and you getting ready to relax? For me, there’s this whole clearing of the mind process that I can find only during this moment. Mind space. So last night I found myself overwhelmed by gratitude for the space I found myself in.

Maybe you need to be a parent to understand—but just getting to a night Yoga class has been beyond me for years. Along with our regular evening rituals—homework, supper, bath, bed, my daughters’ evening activities eat up my time. When I found out about this class, I went through the calendar in my brain and dismissed the idea because Tess has cello lessons at the same time as the class.

I mentioned it to my husband over coffee one morning. “A friend said that I need to do more Yoga, less running. I think they may be right but I can’t get to a class.”  My husband raised his hand, “Hello. I can take Tess.”

Space.

Much of our family life seems to be about space, too. Whether it’s negotiating the space in the house—where to place his big chair in the living room, who gets which bedroom—or who gets what time to go to the gym or go for a walk and so on. The older our children get, the more intense these negotiations become. The bathroom is at the center of the negotiations much of the time. Yes, we only have one full bathroom. (We do have a half bath, but, of course, it doesn’t have the shower…)

So we’ve decided to build another bathroom into our house—that will be an interesting space-building proposition.

This life balance thing is a tricky business.  I’m reminded of something the Yoga master Rodney Yee says.  I’m paraphrasing. But in one of his videos, getting ready for Tree Pose, he says “It’s okay if you sway. Trees sway. Balance is a response.” Just when you think you’ve found it, the center of it moves and you need to readjust.

Has that been your experience?