'Spilt Milk Yoga' by Cathryn Monro, review and blog

Initial thoughts after picking up the book.

When I first took this book from the shelf of the 'Woman's bookshop in Ponsonby' I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew... I'm a mother... sure. But I'm not totally sure if what I thought might be a "Too deep and meaningful for me to grasp, self help book" would actually help me with anything in my life.

I read the words on the back... "a companion guide for mothers who want to experience the happiness, peace, and purpose available in each moment and want to be more present and connected to themselves and their children".

Did she knew my kids were 3 and 4!?... LOL

I mean I would be ecstatic if I could just play nicely with them for 3 minutes without a full throw down tantrum about the fact that River sat on a puzzle piece and farted!

Do you need to be practicing yoga to read this book?

I think it would help to have a basic understanding of yoga practices and the language associated with it, but I don't think that it is at all a necessity.

In all honestly my knowledge of yoga was so basic the only introduction to it I had actually had was some yoga positions printed out onto a white A4 page. I had just had my second child and had just been diagnosed with a condition where my anxiety brain was freaking out my vagina and making it hard to walk (one day I will elaborate). It was a print out of breathing exercises and simple poses designed to relax...

There was also the cool videos that my yoga friends would post on Instagram and Facebook...

That was it...

This book came at a good time!

Days before I started reading it, I had a bit of a breakdown of sorts in a doctors office.

Anxiety was starting to affect me... I was "catastrophizing" the doctor said. Thinking about disasters and car crashes and what could happen to the kids. Tsunamis, kidnapping you name it, I thought about it every night before I went to sleep. You can read more about it in the blog HERE.

Split milk yoga asks some good, but hard questions about being a mother. Some that I found uncomfortable answering, perhaps because it may have exposed my short comings and raw emotions to myself.

And I'm not saying that it asks you in a metaphorical sense.... I mean it literally asks you!

There are actual sections to fill out with answers to questions like "what are you currently finding challenging in your life as a mother?" - The only problem is that my problems don't quite fit into the little space available haha... (although I did find 4 blank pages at the back available that you can write in).

Spilt Milk Yoga has stories and musings that jump around in time and place but it still takes you on your own journey.

It also has a great chapter section where you can pick and choose what piece you would like to read about.