Return to Center

{Our Mom Like Us of the week, Molly, is our guest poster of the day ...she shared this and I thought it was a great thought! ...see more of Molly's ponderings at Domestic Disarray}

I've taken up yoga recently. And I'm finding that what I've always heard to be true is actually true - what started as a way to lose the baby weight and strengthen my body is becoming a spiritual practice that bleeds over into every area of my life. And I have to say that I love it.

There's one aspect of yoga that has really been speaking to me for a while - it's the idea of returning to center. When you are moving through poses, you always start and end at your center, a resting pose where you can take a few deep breaths before moving on to the next pose. If you find yourself unable to complete a pose, you can always return to your center to regain your balance or rest a tired muscle.

In life, we often need to return to our centers, those resting places where we can compose ourselves, take a breath, and prepare ourselves to take the next step. So often during my day, I find myself tired, stressed, and snappy with my kids, unable to complete the tasks that God has laid before me. In these moments, I remind myself, "Exhale. Return to center."

For me, my "center" isn't a physical place (although we all need those places where we can feel peaceful to contemplate our lives). Instead, returning to center is an act of remembering what is most important to me, at the very core of I am.

• My calling - to love God and others
• My desire - to do small things with great love and so to show the world God's heart
• My identity - to be a woman who lives honestly, embracing my strengths and limitations, without allowing the world's judgments to lessen my knowledge of my worth
• My family mission - to create a home where 1) my children feel loved, accepted, and appreciated as God made them so that they can become adults who love, accept, and appreciate others in the same way, 2) where learning is loved and promoted so that my children will grow deeper in their understanding of God and His creation, and 3) where our family values are seen through our actions.

When I strip away all of the other stuff I dump onto my life, this center is what is left. And when I take a moment to return to my center, I am able to more clearly see where my time and energy and love should be placed. It grounds me and pushes me to give up the burdens I place on myself, bringing me peace from the self-inflicted stress I find every day. I can look at my messy kitchen and hear my screaming baby and remember that in the midst of it, my preschooler needs to me speak to her with love instead of anger.

So today when you find yourself straying far from where you want to be, I encourage you to take a moment to exhale and return to center.