As a mother one could never escape from a brisk-pace parenting life. Raising kids requires full support of mind and soul to weather the many challenges life can bring. As a parent, you can’t clock in at 9 am and clock out at 6 pm. The duty just won’t end. It is a continuous task that may drain your energy and emotions. However, there are quite a few bright spots such as finding comfort in reading a bedtime story to your children at the end of the day.

Popular TV personality, an actress and an emcee, Daphne Iking shares how she manages to discover her true self by practising yoga. She is a firm believer that this ancient Indian body of knowledge practice has elevated her energy to be more positive and become more accepting of any hiccups with an open heart.

Daphne Iking has carved name in Malaysia entertainment industry, having shot to fame in Explorace, a reality show back in 2004. She then becomes more prominent when she hosted The Breakfast Show on NTV7. She received even more exposure when she was listed on FHM Malaysia’s  2010 Most Wanted Female at number 40.

But behind the fame, not many do not know the maternal side of Daphne. The mother of three young kids shares with 100Comments some parenting tips, yoga and how her dearest daughter, Isobel helps her cling on to hope during the darkest times.

Amazing mother on-the-go

Daphne with Iman Daniella, Isidore Daniel and Isobel Daniella

“What is it like being a mother?”Daphne muses.  “Well, being a working mom has its challenges. I work mainly from home, so I try and squeeze that in between chores, cooking and kids stuff,” she says, adding that she has a nanny who helps her when she’s out for work or attending events.

She is thankful for having such a supportive husband, Azmi Abdul Rahman or known as Joe Lebosi who is also her manager cum business partner. “He handles my schedule and does all the negotiations for the company and brand. This frees me to focus on the creative part and delivering my services as an emcee, producer, presenter or writer,” she says. She openly admires Azmi’s commitment as a father – he quit his corporate job to step in and look after the children and the household when they had no one to ask for help.

Daphne has the hugest respect for stay-at-home parents. “At home, there is always someone and something that needs your attention then and now. At least working outside you get to take a quick breather for yourself.” Having said so, Daphne still loves being a mother, and loves being pregnant and bonding with the children.

A protective mother

Such a lovely family

“I knew I wanted to be a mother when I was 14 years old as I took care of my newborn baby brother when my mother had to leave him for an opportunity too good to let go,” she says. For Daphne, her kids have taught her unconditional, selfless love and devotion.

Some parents believe they needed to be firm with their kids but not for Daphne. She tries her best to explain why she makes important decisions especially when the kids get really upset on her choices whilst still being protective and establishing the mother-daughter bond. “Isobel was so upset that she was not allowed to go to a birthday ice-skating party even though the other parents were okay to pick her up. I didn’t allow her to go as I was not in town. I explained to her upon our return and we took Isobel and her friends for ice-skating a few weeks later.”

Finding inner peace through yoga

Any keen follower of Daphne’s Instagram account will notice that Daphne loves practising yoga. “I love yoga and this is one activity where I am not a mother or wife nor provider.” Yoga for Daphne is a “me” time to get away from her busy and crowded life. It is the time that she can have a moment of quiet and be completely undisturbed. Hence, she teaches yoga to share her fondness for this spiritual meditation.

“I have screamed at my kids before, but that just made things worse and I felt so, so horrible right after and I swore never to do that again,” she shares. “So now I’m firm with my kids but try my best to use a kind tone when talking to them,” Daphne adds how yoga has helped calm her down a lot and helps her raising her family without losing her cool too much.

“Do you know what is the most challenging moment in raising my kids? To not let out my anger and work stress on them,” she says as it’s hard since she is working from home and her kids come in and out of the office frequently.

Everyone has their own dark phases in life. Daphne being a normal human couldn’t escape from it. Thankfully she has a dearest daughter who is the bright shining light when she finds herself stuck in a dark place. “I still remember Isobel came crawling to comfort me during a really dark phase in my life. I was going through a really depressing time and had suicidal thoughts. She looked at me with such loving eyes and I thought to myself, this is so selfish of me to leave an innocent infant without a parent to look after her.” Isobel helped her snapped out of the depression that day onwards.

“When in doubt or in a valley, just pray. The power of prayer is absolutely amazing. Trust in God and have faith,” she concludes, with a timely piece of advice for struggling parents.