No Bribery Was Used For This...

This morning, I came out of my quick shower to find B on the floor of the family room, struggling to assume a full backbend.

Imagine my surprise and my excitement...after five years of trying to get him to take the tiniest bit of interest in yoga and here is was on the floor in one of the most difficult of yoga poses!

Now, I have to admit this: I've been teaching yoga in his class every Friday. The kids love it and we do a full array of poses for over 30 minutes (this topic is going to be discussed at a later date as there is some pretty great material from the kindergarten class).

The first time I walked into the classroom, all the kids exclaimed, "B's mom is here! Hi B's mom!!" My child was mortified. He rolled his eyes down to his nose, turned his head, and refused to make eye contact with me.

Over the last couple of yoga sessions, he's showed much more interest and has even called out the names of several of the poses. One of my clients who is an elementary school teacher attributes this to what she calls "classroom peer pressure." Basically, all of the kids are following me and B is feeling like he needs to, as well.

We've even started watching a kids yoga DVD at home every afternoon. So much for Speed Racer; B's first request for after school television time is the same kids yoga DVD. This has gone on for the last two weeks.

As soon as I walked in this morning to find him in "Bow Pose," as is the English translation for full backbend, I immediately began praising and congratulating him to which he replied (or yelled, as the case may be), "DON'T LOOK AT ME, MOMMY!"

So I did what every good mother would do and I hid behind kitchen wall to spy on him. I managed to grab the camera and zoom in on the action, all the while darting behind the bar area and the wall. After several failed attempts at backbending, I watched him cross his legs and begin to chant, "OMMMMM." I swear I am not making this up!

Next thing you know he'll be asking me about Krishna and Ganesh. I'll have to tell him about my own personal favorite Hindu goddess, Kali, and then we can practice the chants together and really freak out the family.

In the meantime, I had a small, yet very smug revelation pertaining to B's dad. After all pressures with soccer...the bi-weekly practices, the weekly games, the daily pep talks...blah, blah, blah...the one sport that my son is most interested in is the one that's also nearest and dearest to my heart. Jai to that!

Jai is the Hindu translation of "Joy!" or "Hallelujah!"