This past weekend I brought my boys to three basketball games. Two my husband was the coach of and one was my nieces 3rd game. We met my parents for lunch before one of the games and I'm reminded of why I never went to restaurants for about 5 years after my oldest was born.

I spent most of the time chasing our one year old around the restaurant and spending $6 at the claw machine game for my 8 year old. Side note- if you put a $5 bill into a claw machine, it doesn't give you change it gives you five turns lol.

For me May is heavy on the solo parenting weekends as my husband travels out of state with his AAU team, which means I'm often wondering how do I have time for my practices?

I know as we are approaching the summer months many parents can relate to a busier schedule and being pulled in a million directions. I wanted to share a few of the things I do to keep myself balanced while trying to juggle all the things in this phase of life.

What are your non-negotiables?

This is the first question I ask myself what do I need to do to feel like me or I will be completely exhausted, burnt out, and overwhelmed without these practices?

My personal non-negotiables in a busy season:

• Lifting weights: 3-4x a week
• Walking Daily
• Pranayama Daily
• Going to my favorite nature trail weekly
• Meditation Daily though it looks different each day
• Reading Daily
• Cooking 90% of meals at home
• Yin Yoga practice at home - at least one pose daily
• Abhyanga - 4-5x a week
• Watching Minnesota Timberwolves basketball- Go Wolves! (As a diehard fan since the 7th grade we've been waiting 20 years for another team we can cheer for like this team)

That might look like a lot but I know I can make those practices happen most weeks. On busy weeks a 20 minute workout is enough, walking daily with my boys at night, going on my favorite nature trail over the weekend with my boys, meditation as my son eats his breakfast. It all fits when I'm intentional. What didn't make the list? Scrolling for hours, watching of tv. I find those things can easily add up quickly in terms of time but don't actually fill up my cup.