How to Exercise When You Don’t Have Time for it

Exercise When You Don’t Have Time…

Happy Mother’s Day to all the lovely mummies, mamas, mamans, mommies and mams out there. Is it completely inappropriate if I start by whining about being a busy a mum of four who has no time for herself? Peeing in peace is my ‘me time’ and even that rarely happens. There is always a small child speaking to me (or screaming) as I try to have a shower and I seldom wake up without a child breathing down my neck. If you are in a similar situation to me and are able to exercise when you don’t have time, then send over some tips! My exercise regime generally involves carrying a toddler up and down the stairs or walking briskly (OK, running) on the school run twice a day.

Although I have very little time for myself, look at these 4… Don’t they make your heart melt?

My million pound question for you is, “Do you actually want to exercise when you don’t have time?” I really am not a ‘fit mama’ kind of person, so if I have a spare minute, all I want to do is bake a cake, eat something sweet or have a nap on the sofa when my children watch a film. The only issue is that (shock shock horror!) my high metabolism has been slowing down and I have put on almost one and a half stone over the past couple of years. I have never put on weight in my life, if you exclude four pregnancies that all went past 40 weeks.

I was 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant with Beanie there and gave birth about 10 hours later!

Bye Bye Abs, Hello Mummy Tummy

Things are changing. My body is not as firm and slender as it used to be, and I definitely have a flabby mummy tummy. I am not too self-conscious and I will never ever restrict my food intake or go on a diet. Life is too short not to enjoy every mouthful of food. All I want is to make some time just for me (other than when I’m peeing), firm up my mum tum and also improve my posture. After carrying 4 children, suffering from sciatica in my last pregnancy and a bad posture since childhood, enough is enough. I want to go back to yoga and to improve my posture.

A 1st Attempt at Yoga

Yoga is the only form of exercise I have ever practised regularly. It wasn’t love at first sight and I wish someone had directed me towards an article like this one before my first attempt. The first time I tried yoga, I was 17 and I was way too immature to fully enjoy it. I was in the 6th form and there were free after school sessions. My friend Violaine and I joined but we could not help giggling and feeling like idiots, which really annoyed the yoga teacher (and everyone else for that matter). It almost got us thrown out of the room. We could not concentrate, relax or do the movements properly. We were way too distracted by our own selves and the seemingly ridiculous postures we were getting into. Self-consciousness and being teenagers were our enemies.

Why I Love Yoga

It was a good nine or ten years later before I convinced myself to give yoga another go. I was ready then and I absolutely loved it. The flow, the fact people were doing their own thing and not caring about everyone else’s movements, the gentle exercise, the breathing techniques. the meditation at the end. Ever since, yoga has been the only form of exercise I have stuck with, and until my third pregnancy, I would practise religiously every week. I am not ‘good’ or flexible, but that is the beauty of yoga: it is not competitive, you do not compare yourself to others. It is all about you, your breathing and how your practice helps your body.

Photo credit: Yogaia

Flabby, Bad Posture, Self-conscious & Embarrassed

Although getting back to yoga has been on my list of things to achieve for the past couple of years, I have only managed to attend a handful of classes. I have never been the most flexible or graceful of people, but my posture is getting worse and worse, my ‘mum tum’ is showing no sign of going anywhere and the exercise-hater that I am is actually craving some form of exercise. I feel flabby and I hate it. The thought of joining a gym to spend hours in a room full of sweaty people makes me shudder. Running is my idea of hell on earth and although I have managed to attend a few  hot yoga classes in the past month and loved them, there is always a part of me that feels judged and  embarrassed not to be as flexible as the rest of the group.

Yogaia: The Best Way to Exercise When You Don’t Have Time

I thought of looking for YouTube videos of yoga practices, but you know what life is like with young children: you just don’t make time for yourself. A few months ago, I stumbled upon Yogaia online and I looked a bit more into it. It seemed ideal. I tend to shy away from rooms full of sweaty people or having to get changed into fitness gear, so the thought of practising yoga when I wanted or even in my PJs before my morning shower sounded appealing.

Photo credit: Yogaia

Like everything, it took three months before I actually made the time to sign up for it, but as my little ones were asking, “What shall we do?” for the umpteenth time on 1st January, I decided to give it a go, with them. It took me less than a minute to sign up and choose between one of the free pre-recorded classes available. We went for a simple 20-minute ‘flow basic’ Vinyasa session (Amanda Dufour), as they had never practised yoga. I did it with my four children and was surprised they managed to follow all instructions, really. We all thoroughly enjoyed our session, despite the little ones climbing on me or using me as a bridge at times.

Photo credit: Yogaia

Since then, I have managed to attend 6 pre-recorded classes on Yogaia on my own (woop woop!), as well as a few with one or four of the kids . I tend to go for short classes and  I love the fact you can have any type of yoga that fits your style, the time of day or your energy levels. My favourite collection of classes is the one for busy mums.

Photo credit: Yogaia

My top tip to exercise when you don’t have time?

Stop procrastinating and making excuses (I rock at faffing!) and get started, then stick to it! Check these 5 top tips to make your yoga routine stick.

Photo credit: Yogaia

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own and I contacted Yogaia myself as I loved their concept and was desperate to give it a go. I have been using it for almost three months and love it! I