Yoga

When Autumn was 11 years old she got into trouble while swimming in the Pacific Ocean. She kept waving and hollering towards the beach for someone to save her but no one noticed. Not the lifeguard, not her friends. Then a heroic dad on a boogie board swept in and hauled her butt out of the water. Whew!

For Autumn, yoga has always been like that boogie board.  In the right hands and at the right time, it can save your life. Yoga rescued Autumn for the first time in 1999. In the middle of a very emotionally and physically trying time she found herself in a yoga class. The breathing and movement techniques allowed Autumn to see that another world was possible. Stress and overwork could sweep people out to sea just as easily as a strong ocean wave.

Yoga is a tool for transformation and awareness. Autumn graduated with a BA in Theater Studies at Yale and holds an MFA in Film from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her 500 hour Yoga Alliance certification from Rolf Gates and Heidi Sormaz and her Forrest Yoga Certification in 2020. Autumn continues to believe that just like a boogie board, when it's not rescuing you Yoga can remind you how sweet it is to be alive.

Anger

Yoga has kept me afloat my whole life. Then came motherhood. And after THAT came mothering in a pandemic. Suddenly the very same things that made me a great caretaker were the same things that were draining me of the energy I needed to take care of myself. Like salmon swimming against the stream to lay their eggs. Despite jumping up waterfalls and escaping the clutches of bears to protect their babies these amazing creatures die afterwards because the journey is too damned exhausting. Could love overwhelm our senses as much as stress? Because it comes from love could we be ignoring information or feeling so guilty that we never address the ways parenting and care-taking ask us to leap up waterfalls?

Momma

That’s why I founded Angry Momma Yoga. Because mothers (and indeed all caretakers) need to find ways to take care of themselves. We need to take the steps of recognizing that anger, frustration and stress are all the body’s ways of communicating that something is not okay. Only when we free ourselves up from guilt or denial around these helpful emotions can we be fully alive to the wisdom living in our cells. Mothers need care. In fact, we deserve it. Only when we model this do our children learn the same message: they deserve care. I asked my son why he was so comfortable saying “no.” He replied: “Because you say no to me all the time.” Suddenly I found myself laughing. Huge belly laughs. How I live my life teaches my babies healthy boundaries and self care.

Angry Momma Yoga was born out of the desire to share this wisdom with other mothers, teachers and caretakers. We can learn from all our emotions, not just the ones we label nice or appropriate. Mothering can be fierce. Caring does not have to always look like a hallmark card. Saying yes to yourself sometimes means saying no to everyone else. A healthy no can be the most loving act of parenting our kids receive.