Practicing Yoga with My Daughter: Expectation vs. Reality!

Join Me as I Reflect on This Journey—Your Thoughts Are Welcome!

Namaste

I hope you found a reason to smile and feel grateful today. If not, here’s a virtual smile just for you 🙂 —consider it a little nudge to smile back, even if it’s just out of reciprocity!

On that note, let’s dive into some random ramblings (that often turn reflective) about my journey through the 21-day yoga challenge.

Remember yesterday when I mentioned laughter yoga and how I wished my daughter had joined me to make it feel more natural? Well, guess what? Today, I decided to take the session with her—and now, I’m second-guessing myself.

Hop in as I share the highs and lows of practising yoga with my 12-year-old daughter—expectations vs. reality!

Day 5 of the 21-day yoga challenge!

Today’s focus was on stretching and soaring . Since I had to step out in the morning, I opted for the evening session, thinking it would be the perfect opportunity to include my daughter.

It seemed like an ideal plan—a productive mother-daughter bonding time. I imagined her keeping me accountable, encouraging me to push my limits, step out of my comfort zone, and maybe even hold those challenging poses a little longer.

The thought felt so right. I was overjoyed and eagerly looking forward to the session!

Expectations

Let me paint the picture of what I had envisioned:

1. We’re both practising the asanas for the day, and they are perfectly in sync.
2. The room exudes a zen vibe, filled with serene silence and peaceful smiles on our lips.
3. I’m quietly competing with her, pushing myself to hold certain poses a little longer.
4. She’s looking up to me for guidance on a few tricky poses that feel new or unfamiliar to her.
5. We move seamlessly into synchronized breathing exercises.
6. Towards the end, there’s a pin-drop silence—so much so that my husband peeks in to check if everything’s alright!

I know, I know—it sounds like the perfect scenario. But hey, I was at least hoping for 3–4 of these to come true. And then reality happened.

Reality

We only had one yoga mat, so we spread out a big single mat and got ready to start the session.

1. It began with walking in place, followed by a light jog and some grooving. But guess what else was grooving along? Yep, you guessed it—the mat! Thanks to my daughter’s impromptu beginner-level moonwalk on it. Mental note to self: next time, two separate mats. Period.
2. Next up: stretching out both hands and twisting from low to high and back—it really did feel like a helicopter taking off. That is, until there was mid-air traffic and… collision!
3. Then came Surya Namaskara. This part went relatively well, though our synchronization flew right out the window. She was adamant about sticking to the method her school teacher had taught her, while I stuck with the tutor’s instructions.
4. Don’t even get me started on the breathing exercises! Every time the trainer instructed us to hold our breath, it triggered a chain reaction—a slight giggle, followed by a snort, and eventually a full-blown ROFL moment. In fact, most of today’s session turned into an impromptu laughter yoga class.
5. Here’s the highlight of the session: we wrapped up with a breathing technique. The trainer instructed us to close our eyes and focus on the sensations in our body.Just as I was starting to feel a tingling sensation in my palms and feet, I noticed something unusual near my face. Sure enough, it was my daughter—making faces in very close proximity to mine. So much for zen!

But here’s the thing—just before closing the session, we were asked to reflect on things we’re grateful for. The trainer suggested we think about simple blessings we often take for granted, like a roof over our heads or the ability to breathe.

And then, out of nowhere, my daughter said, “I’m grateful for my parents.”

At that moment, I knew for sure—there’s no second-guessing about doing a session with her. It’s always going to be a YES!

And do I even need to say how grateful I am for her presence in my life? Well, by now, you probably know it for sure. But just to be safe (I am grateful to have my darling daughter in my life), this girl is definitely going to check if I’ve mentioned it explicitly. She saw the beginning of this draft and is sure to give it a read tomorrow!

That’s a wrap for the day—a hearty one!

If you would like to join in the fun, click on the link below. It’s ok even if you join now. Just give it a try.

21-day Yoga Challenge by Habuild

Stay you; stay awesome!

P.S. This post was first published, here.