Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which we become more mindful of our children and, in doing so, experience a more joyful life.
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
you to
submit a mindful parenting experience through verse,
commentary, and imagery to share with others. We believe that
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
everyone who has contributed or is considering making this very compassionate
contribution.
Click
here to learn what recent events are taking place
and of changes to The Mindful Parent website. Please
contact
us with your questions about mindful parenting or to share a mindful
parenting experience. We are devoted to working with you to
enhance your ability to "be" with your children, and to experience
the bliss that awaits you.
The Morning Sip: Street Signs
And Your Child
Our environment
is filled with sights and sounds that can serve as cues to the presence
of our child in our lives. The practice of mindful parenting
involves opening awareness to incorporate these otherwise innocuous
(and sometime noxious) sources of stimuli and into our daily lives
as reminders of our child. The possibilities are endless.
Today,
when you see a sign containing numerals -- for example, a street sign setting
forth the avenue you are approaching or traveling on, or a road
sign providing the speed limit or identifying the road, allow your
attention to linger a little longer than usual on the numbers
you see.
When you realize you are lingering out of mindfulness,
take a slow deep breath. Relax your neck muscles. Stop
thinking.
Do the numbers relate to your child in some way
-- perhaps their age (or their age at a very special time in
your life), the number on a sport's outfit, part of their telephone
number? Can you imagine your child's voice saying the number
-- now or when they were younger?
This exercise only takes a flicker
of an instant. And in that flicker of an instant, you open your
awareness to the presence of your child in your life, wherever your
child may be.
Smile as thoughts and feelings open to
your child. Whether you're driving to work, to the grocery store,
sitting on a bus or train or plane, or strolling down the street,
your child is with you.
With each flicker, your heart opens a
little more to the abundant joyfulness that is living.
Originally
published June 22, 2004
