Beautiful scene
Many parents
Many children
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The
Mindful Parent is a servicemark of Zen Health.
The Morning Sip: Resist
Less and Experience More
The practice of mindful parenting expands our
connection to our child and to the cosmos. One measure
of this is that we feel less resistance and a greater flow and harmonious
fit in the world. Situations proceed smoothly. The
reason for this is that when we open to mindful awareness, we respond and
adapt more appropriately to situations that arise rather than
mindlessly react in ways that complicate matters and cause frustration.
There are few fields riper for this exploration and growth than in
our relationship with our child, especially when we are focusing on
some project or work we feel we need to accomplish "now" and
our child is vying for our attention.
Today, when you find yourself
feeling resistance or frustration when interacting with your child
in this way, open to mindful awareness. Breathe deeply
and relax. Soften your gaze and drop your shoulders. You
need not react to everything.
Ask yourself whether
the project must be done right then and there. If it MUST be
done, then work on it, but do so mindfully and with compassion toward
your child. When you explain to your child what you need to
do, see the cosmos reflecting in your child's eyes.
More likey
than not, you have selected the time to do the work out
of convenience and there is no urgency at the moment. If this
is so, then acknowledge it. Recognize that you
expend extra energy trying to work on the project and simultaneously
keep your child at bay. You actually drain yourself of
needed energy by engaging in this unnecessary juggling act.
As a result, you begin to feel depleted. Both the work and your
connection and relationship with your child suffers.
If you can
drop the work for the time being, do so. It is going nowhere. Let
it be. Then, pour yourself into your child. Your
child will respond like a blossoming flower. In time, you
will return to the project. As a result, the sum total of energy
you have for the project and for your child is greater.
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Experiencing
the Joy of Connecting With Our Children
The Mindful Parent is an organization devoted to sharing with parents
and other child caregivers ways in which to enhance the many joys
of parenting. By mindfully attending to our children, both when
we are physically present with them and when we are physically separated
from them, we can enhance our sense of connection to them and, in
turn, our connection to the cosmos. This makes us a better parent,
a happier person, and a more vital human being.
To facilitate
a more mindful approach to parenting, The Mindful Parent publishes
on its website, and in its bi-weekly
newsletter, mindful parenting
verses
and commentaries. The Mindful Parent website also serves as
a community forum that encourages and supports a mindful parenting
dialogue and the sharing of mindful parenting experiences.
In
the spirit of developing a mindful parenting community, we encourage
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through our collective experience, we can help each other develop
a deeper and more meaningful mindful parenting practice.
Click here to learn more about making a submssion. We thank
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enhance your ability to "be" with your children, and to experience
the bliss that awaits you.
The Mindful Parent
