As I begin to write this article, I witness the scene: Doors slamming around me, little voices laughing, yelling and singing, foot steps pounding, constant chattering, never ending streams of questions and demands; “where’s the paper?”, “I’m hungry, can we eat?”, “Muummm, I need you…..”
What about peace and silence and a little time to think? Where’s the balance that I am sure used to be more accessible before motherhood? Even for those who seem to be born into motherhood, this powerful, emotional, heart-opening, heart-wrenching, absolutely challenging world of motherhood seems like a boat caught in never ending waves, being tossed far away from the distant memory of peace, quiet and balance.
My inspiration, Swami Satyananda says,
“There is no silence in the Himalayas and there is no noise in the city, both are within you.”
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I remember one day when I was watering the plants and trees in the ashram garden. I went with a bucketfull of water and poured it onto a big tree. My Guru came to me with a compassionate heart and sweet words and told me: “You don’t need to water this tree. It has very long roots and is old enough that it can reach the water below on its own...”

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In the Western society there is a movement of awareness towards treating our planet better. We are trying to reduce the environmental pollution, end the destruction of forests, stop harmful radiation and the list goes on. All of these are positive actions that we can continue working towards, however, how much time do we spend reducing our own mental and physical pollution. Have we considered that when we have negative thoughts and uncontrolled anger, envy, and jealousy that we are creating pollution? Have we pondered over what type of pollution we create in our bodies with stress, drugs (many of them legal), alcohol, and processed junk food?
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Stress is something that is a part of our world and our lives. It cannot be avoided. From time to time the conscious use of some amount of stress can be useful and helpful in order to make things function. In fact, momentary stress of our system is necessary to protect us from danger. However, when stress becomes continuous, we fall into distress, which results in physical and mental diseases. Through the regular practice of techniques that increase our inner awareness, we can gain enough insight to use stress to our advantage when necessary, yet, maintain a relaxed body and state of mind in our daily lives. This is yogic management of stress.
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