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" Ten years ago, two of Heather Munro Marshall&amp;#039;s sweetest dreams came true at once: She became pregnant with her first child, and she landed a job as a copywriter at an advertising agency in Concord, MA. But pretty soon, those two dreams collided. &amp;quot;When I had my daughter, Meredith, I remember wanting to split myself in two,&amp;quot; recalls Heather, now 40. &amp;quot;I had always wanted to be a mother, but I also loved my job. I was sad at work and sad at home.&amp;quot; She was forced to face the question that nearly every working mother asks herself: How do I reconcile wanting two entirely different things at once? Until then, Marshall had found the answers to life&amp;#039;s big questions with relative ease: She married her high school sweetheart, Matt, and they had formed an equal partnership, each of them working full-time, dividing the demands of their household and sharing the financial burden as well. Upon Meredith&amp;#039;s arrival, however, Matt zeroed in on his career and supporting the family financially \u2014 he worked long hours at his job as the director of business development for an environmental engineering company \u2014 while Heather focused more intently on being a nurturing mom. &amp;quot;It was as if we were speaking a different language,&amp;quot; she says of their contrasting reactions to parenthood. &amp;quot;He felt work was a priority in order to support the family, and I thought being with our child should be the priority.&amp;quot;  Even so, Heather often found the day-in, day-out routine of caring for her baby to be mind-numbing. Her work made her feel purposeful and proud, not to mention that it added to the family&amp;#039;s bottom line, and she wasn&amp;#039;t ready to give it up. So once her two-month maternity leave ended, she went back to a work part-time, enrolling her daughter in day care. &amp;quot;It was a weird feeling for me to leave Meredith there,&amp;quot; she says. Plus, Heather&amp;#039;s heart wasn&amp;#039;t fully in her work anymore \u2014 yet she felt anxiety about whether her projects were running smoothly on the days she was at home. &amp;quot;There was a disconnect between the reality of my life,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;and the 100-percent commitment required to do my job.&amp;quot; When her company asked her to come back full-time about a year and a half later, Heather chose to stay home with Meredith and freelance instead. Although Matt worried about the loss of income, this less secure but more flexible arrangement felt like the right fit, and Heather got steady work writing copy for print ads and catalogs. Then in 2002, she had her second child, Nathan, and found herself right back at the crossroads she&amp;#039;d visited three years earlier. &amp;quot;I was freelancing three days a week, but I also wanted to bond with my daughter as well as be there for my baby son, and I wanted to be sure I was doing everything right,&amp;quot; Heather says. &amp;quot;I had so much guilt.&amp;quot;  To ease her stress, she started taking a weekly yoga class. &amp;quot;I needed something just for me,&amp;quot; she explains. &amp;quot;I was exhausted from carrying babies and car seats, and yoga helped to make me stronger and more relaxed. But there was also the philosophy: I was able to get out of the loop of getting, getting, getting, as opposed to just being.&amp;quot; Taking this time for herself gave her renewed energy for motherhood, Heather explains, quoting a Sufi prayer: &amp;quot;Do not give from the depths of your own well; give only from its overflow.&amp;quot; Heather isn&amp;#039;t the first overwhelmed mom to find peace and perspective in the yoga studio, but soon her practice became a passion. In 2004 she enrolled in a six-month Ashtanga training workshop and became certified as an instructor. She started teaching at the studio where she&amp;#039;d taken classes as well as at a local recreation center.  This time around, Matt was more supportive of her cutting back on copywriting work; he saw how much happier yoga made her, and he was grateful that she could be home for the kids. These days, he even surprises her occasionally by showing up at one of her classes. From namaste to Namaspray In 2006, a job opportunity for Matt took the family to Louisville, CO, just outside of Boulder, where Heather began teaching at a studio, Yoga Elements. The next Christmas, she decided to create a homemade gift for her many yogi and yogini friends: bottles of an all-natural yoga-mat disinfectant spray that she&amp;#039;d learned about from her instructor in Massachusetts. The spray \u2014 made of tea tree oil, water, vinegar, alcohol, and essential oils \u2014 was a hit among her friends, including the owner of Yoga Elements, who suggested that Heather sell the spray there. All she was missing was a name.  &amp;quot;&amp;#039;Namaspray&amp;#039; popped into my mind right away,&amp;quot; Marshall says. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a funny take on the Sanskrit word namaste (nah-ma-stay), which is a greeting in yoga. I realized it was pretty catchy, so I trademarked it and started a website, namaspray.com.&amp;quot; Within months, Heather had signed up eight retailers in Colorado, a mix of yoga studios and sportswear and nifty-gifty shops.  These days, she fills orders for Namaspray in her kitchen, attaching an inspirational message \u2014 sources range from Gwen Stefani to John Wayne to Buddha \u2014 to each bottle. And she and Matt are discussing ways to bring the business to the next level.  &amp;quot;I never saw myself as a business person creating a product, but here I am,&amp;quot; Heather says. &amp;quot;I sometimes regret that I didn&amp;#039;t stay in the advertising world. But I&amp;#039;ve got my kids, my yoga, this business that I&amp;#039;d like to grow. And I feel more comfortable than I&amp;#039;ve ever felt with the choices that I&amp;#039;ve made.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/advice/a5715/risks-of-quitting-job/>