om body
and all stuff like that – I’ve been able to draw
on their wisdom.”
Her latest book, Yoga Babies, brings
together these experiences on the mat
with her time as a busy parent to two
young children.
The picture book includes a group of cute
characters with their own little personalities,
and each one shows off a yoga pose, usually
relating to an animal. It all comes from her
experiences at home.
“It’s not a yoga manual – you know, I’m not
a yoga teacher, I’m just someone who likes
doing yoga – but it’s bringing out my love of
yoga, and the fact that my kids sort of engage
with it and the joy of doing little poses, plus it’s
a sweet little story as well. I’m quite busy, and
I’m a mum, so I probably get to class about
once a week. So, more often than not, I do
about 45 minutes on my own in the kitchen
and usually the kids are running round me and
they’ll come and jump on my back or join in for
a moment and try a little pose out.
“I think it’s fun to them. They’re learning
what their bodies are capable of and what
different moves feel like. They don’t really
have an understanding that it’s this thing
called ‘yoga’ but they just like to move
around and I think it’s good for them
practicing their balance, coordination and
focusing; you can get it into their heads that
it’s a nice thing to do.”
Home practice
While the book is more for the kids, there
are good lessons for other busy parents too,
she says.
“It’s more focused on kids, but I think if
there are parents out there who do feel- and I can only speak for myself here –
knackered, quite sleep deprived and trying
to do so many things at once, then going to
that one yoga class a week is like a massive
treat for me. I feel like I’m getting a really
good bit of downtime, when my mind isn’t
racing about...you know, packed lunches
and school uniforms, the logistics of who’s
picking up who.
“I just get to have that stillness in my head
for a bit and to focus on something else, and
physically I get a lot out of it too – physically
I’m probably the best I’ve felt from doing
yoga, not putting extra stress on myself by
going to the gym and being too tough on my
body; like it’s all really working with what my
body wants to do.”
And the great beauty of any yoga practice
is that it can be done anywhere.
“I think that’s the beauty of it for me. I can
roll out my mat in the kitchen and I can do it
at home, I don’t have to go anywhere, so it
works with my family life.”
As well as the physical practice and all the
benefits that brings - plus the fun and games
with the kids on the kitchen floor - Cotton
highlights a deeper level of appreciation for
some of yoga’s more subtle aspects.
“For me, the mental bit came way down
the line, when I really started to grasp thedeeper meanings and the concepts and
ethos of what you’re trying to get out of
it mentally and emotionally. And that’s
kind of why I still go now. The physical bit I
love, but I kind of do it more for the coping
mechanisms, or techniques and ways of
thinking about things – that for me has
become really integral in everything. It helps
in ways in which you wouldn’t necessarily
imagine. It’s stuff that spills over into your
life and that’s really wonderful.”Yoga future
After deriving so much benefit from her
practice, Cotton is intrigued by what else
is out there in the world of yoga. With her
presenting career in full throttle and her
parenting duties unlikely to diminish anytime
soon, she has her hands full for now...but
yoga is definitely something she’d be keen to
explore on a deeper level in the future.
“I’m very much at the beginning of my
yogi adventure but there’s so much more
for me to learn and understand.” Finding
the time is a challenge, however. “At the
moment, I find yoga is really good as a kind
of counterbalance for all the other chaos
in my life. It’s important that I blend in this
other stuff (like yoga and chatting to really
interesting people that I know) as it helps
me mentally but I think later down the line,
maybe when my kids are a bit older and
they’re at school, then I’d love to understand
the teachings behind yoga. Not just the
physical stuff but the spiritual stuff behind it
as well because I’m really interested in that
as well. Yeah, hopefully later down the line I’ll
have more time to commit to that.”“I’m quite busy, and
I’m a mum, so I
probably get to class
about once a week.”