Today's mothers can be found practicing yoga and putting their needs on par with the needs of their family as a means of living more stress-free lives.

Many women are trading in their team jerseys for yoga mats. The busy soccer mom has transformed into the calm and ethereal yoga mom who is more interested in a stress-free life than racing around to sports practices.

For a long time the stereotypical image of a mom was a minivan-driving, white, 40-something picking up Timmy from sports practice and Jenny from cheerleading. Her fast-paced lifestyle had her racing between childrens' engagements to home to other social obligations in a harried, time-pressed manner.

But today you're more likely to see mom practicing her asanas instead of toting clipboards and team snacks. She's scooting around in her Toyota Prius instead of the Dodge Caravan and is more about living in the moment than over-programming children with music lessons and enrichment classes.

Today's moms are more free-spirited and learn-as-you-go types. They don't strive for the same goals as their mothers before them. Instead of keeping up with the Joneses and striving for perfection, the Yoga Mom or Eco Mom is customizing her life the way she sees fit.

So what else is different about women of the Yoga Mom mindset? A lot actually.

Today's moms live further from their Baby Boomer parents, and aren't as influenced by their go-getter attitudes.

As such, Eco Moms are more community-based and interested in being everyone's friends. That's why you're more likely to find Yoga Moms blogging, heading grassroots campaigns and seeking new friends on social networking sites.

Yoga moms are more about spreading the word on ways to improve the community and planet than receiving the gossip on how to get ahead or the best recipe to bring to the office potluck.

Many Yoga Moms saw their own mothers struggle with the work-family balance with little success. New moms are more about embracing what's real and meaningful than being caught up in the rat race.

That isn't to say today's moms are sitting on the couch catching up with daytime programming.

They are certainly educated, successful women. They're simply putting their needs on par with the needs of their family and feeling better about themselves in the process.