For the past six years under one roof, my family has lived with my 90 year old Mom, Myself, and my 28 year old daughter. It brings about many challenges, but there is also something so special about it.

My mother gets to witness me being a mother, and my daughter gets to witness me being adaughter.

This is a sacred chain in which we all learn from one another on a daily basis how to love more deeply, give more selflessly, and honor our needs as a collective and as individuals.
It has shined a whole new light on what it means to give a “Mother’s Love”. It is no different than a daughter’s love, or a teacher’s love… But it is perhaps the purest. It is unconditional, un-programmed, and unpretentious… And it is the ultimate yoga practice.

Now, this is not always easy for the men in my house because on any given day they may have to deal with everything from Dementia to Menopause to PMS 🤪. They’ve learned how to embrace the many ups and downs of living with three generations of women, and for that, I am forever grateful.

One of my favorite stories I like to share on Mother’s Day is from Hungarian author, Útmutató a Léleknek, who wrote this short story. It’s about a conversation twins are having in their mother’s womb.

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Baba Ram Dass, The quieter I become, the more I can hear”. As the earth pauses during this pandemic, perhaps we can collectively hear mother nature’s loving voice surrounding us.

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other:
“Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”
– Útmutató a Léleknek

Happy Mother’s Day!