Mali's No Kidding 2020 Project

I am an intermittent yogi. With troublesome knees and back, I don’t always get to do yoga, and sometimes, when I’m struggling with figuring out what hurts and what doesn’t, I can go a long time without doing yoga. But it is something I enjoy, something I get some peace from, and something that makes me feel stronger and taller and more alive. I don’t go to classes – I would be far too embarrassed* – so I follow Yoga with Adriene# on Youtube, and do my yoga at home in peace and quiet, with birds singing outside.

That’s not what this post is about though, so bear with me. For the last few years, I have enjoyed taking up Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga programmes, even though it always (ALWAYS) takes me longer than 30 days to do it. She works gradually through routines, but has a word or phrase for each day, one that reminds you why you are doing the programme, what you want to get from it, and how to get there. I started her January challenge the other day, and as I sat on my mat, feeling my neck and back lengthen and my brows unfurrow, I thought about why I was there. Or rather, the fact that I was there at all, on the mat with her. Along with thousands of people all around the world.

And it reminded me of my efforts here on No Kidding in NZ too. I thought about healing, and how it really happens one day at a time, like her yoga journeys. I thought about how lonely it can be, and how it helps to know others are doing it, or have done it, and are cheering us on. I thought about the things that help us every day. Sometimes all is needed is a simple word or phrase reminder. Adriene does that for yoga. Maybe I can do a similar thing (on a smaller scale) for those of us who are Not Kidding. A spark of inspiration before even the first downward dog!

So this is going to be my blogging project for this month/year. It was time for something new. It will apply a slightly different way of thinking about healing from disappointment, and living our No Kidding lives. I’ll have at least 20 posts to match the year, maybe more. I’m going to try to make it relevant for both people who are new to this journey into a childless-not-by-choice life, and those who are here and living a No Kidding life already.

I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work out. Unlike Adriene, I haven’t planned this project in advance. I’m going to see how it goes, and – in her famous words – find what feels good, and go with the flow! I hope you’ll join me. My first post will go up in a few hours. Don't miss it!

* Please don’t try to convince me to do a class! I know they’re there. Right now, they’re not for me.

# If you haven’t heard of Yoga with Adriene, I encourage you to look up her website, her youtube channel, and read about her. There’s something about her that makes inviting her into your home on a regular basis feel right. And if you like dogs, her dog joins almost every video.