Rain fell as my five-year-old asked if she could go outside to play with her umbrella.

It wasn’t much more than a sprinkle, and she wouldn’t have gotten too wet, but we were running behind schedule and so I told her we’d do it another day.

“Please, Mommy? Please!” she implored. Again, I said no. She asked a third time, but I held my ground. “Come on,” I said. “We’re late.”

She was bummed, but I was feeling too rushed to respond with much sympathy. I hurried her to the door and opened it up, only to find that the gentle shower had turned into a thundering downpour. She had her umbrella in hand as she asked,” Where’s your umbrella?” I chuckled as I responded, “My umbrella is in the car.”

(Which, of course, was parked up the street.)

“What are you going to do?” she asked, smiling. “Certainly my umbrella isn’t big enough for the both of us.”

“Well, I guess we’re just going to have to wait it out,” I said.

“Since we’re just waiting, can I stand outside with my umbrella now?” she asked.

Of course I had to say yes; the universe had given me no choice but to slow down and let her participate in the moment. And the look on her face as the raindrops fell around her was priceless. I realized that was the first time she’d ever stood in the rain…holding her own umbrella…all by herself…and that she was absolutely treasuring every bit of the experience.

Yoga can be like that. Whether you’re new to the mat or you’ve been doing it a while and are looking for a new challenge, you can slow down and experience every moment as if were the first time. You just need to reach inside and connect with that childlike sense of wonder.

I tapped into that as we finally got in the car and were on our way. The rain tapered off, and as I looked ahead, I saw the beginnings of a rainbow. I pointed it out, but she couldn’t see it from her vantage point in the backseat. So, clock be damned, I pulled the car over to the side of the road, and held her hand as she stepped out to look at the rainbow. She positively beamed at me as she exclaimed, “Mommy! Mommy!!! It’s beautiful!”

So was she—and so was the moment.

Relephant: 

11 Things we were Taught when we were Children that would still serve us Today.

Author: Becky Vollmer 

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: author’s own