Exercise With The Whole Family
Every Sunday morning in the Bay Area, more than one hundred people gather to dance and sweat their hearts out. What makes the event even truly unique is the eclectic mixture of the group.
Grandmas dance alongside glittery, hoola-hooping twenty-somethings, a sprinkling of enthusiastic children flit throughout the crowd and balance on their parent’s backs and shoulders, and there are even a few young babies strapped to their mothers or fathers (with proper ear protection, of course). Scanning the crowd and taking it all in suddenly gives the term “all-inclusive” an entirely different meaning. As a parent, it is a wonderful reminder that it is possible to share many of our passions and interests with our children, and while parenting does often involve a certain level of sacrifice, there are some things that we cannot and should not give up, because they hold something of value for the whole family.
In the end, the deeper message is this: while it is a given truth that being a parent means there is a whole lot less “my time”, perhaps there is a way to think a little bit more creatively and expansively, in terms of “our time”. For instance, instead of foregoing a home yoga practice in the living room because of potential interruptions from your kids, try putting the yoga mat down and letting them join in. Try working out when and if you need and want to, with your kids by your side. All too often parents have the ingrained belief that exercise needs to be something they do without kids.
However, an important opportunity is lost in the process: children miss out on the benefit of a positive example of seeing the adults in their lives make physical health a priority. By sharing that time together, everyone wins, and positive lifelong physical habits are born.
NOTE: This week I am very excited to be taking part in a blog chain that is sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center. I invite you to visit the next link in the chain, a blog written by Terri Forehand, whose many years as a nurse and teacher bring depth to her writing!
Click here to visit Terri’s blog!
