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In 2007, a little girl came into my life, and I became an instant father.

I've been getting up before dawn for years, so that part didn't bother me one bit. But I will tell you, my yoga practice has gotten shorter. No more 3-hour monster sessions of pranayama, asana, and meditation for me.

No sir.

Kids need attention, and my first life lesson as a dad is that you've got to get really smart with your time because any way you slice it, the day flies by!

So here's what I do.

I plan my day really carefully the night before. I keep a yoga practice journal, and I write down everything I'm working on, everything I'm struggling with, and how long it's been going on (hint: you might want to keep a practice journal yourself).

And when I get on the mat, I don't screw around or experiment. I do the practices that I've been doing for years, the ones that I know work.

You can see all sorts of funky poses in Yoga Journal of women on the beach with white silk dresses in a reverse warrior triangle inversion (no idea what I just said there), but at the end of the day, that's all just fluff.

The real practice happens all alone, when you wake up and you know you've got an hour or and hour and half before Sesame Street gets boring and the little one finishes her breakfast and is going to crawl on your head and tell you it's time for school.

Kids or no kids, if it hasn't happened to you yet, at some point, you'll realize that you only get a few precious moments to yourself each day to grow and stretch and strengthen your spirit.

So don't mess around, because nobody wants a flabby old stiff guy as a father. Not this dad.

Stay bendy,

Lucas

Yogabody Naturals LLC