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 Daily Sip:
Doodling and Your
Cosmic Child
You probably have doodled before. Perhaps
it was while waiting for something, or perhaps while in a classroom
or in a meeting. More often than not, you saw what you had doodled
only after you finished, or while you were in the middle of, doodling
-- A many-petaled flower, rocket ship, odd faces, geometric
shapes, or just some squiggles.
Doodling is the consummate
mindless, or unconscious, act. Generally, the same patterns
repeat themselves over and over. You doodle today what you doodled
years ago.
Allow the practice of mindful parenting
to transform doodling into a moment of awakening your deep connection
with your child.
Today, when you find yourself sitting with
a pen(cil) and paper at hand, begin to doodle and then stop yourself
just after you draw a line or two. Take a deep breath.
Then continue by drawing an image that reminds you of your child.
Be sure to leave room surrounding the image. Maybe you are an
artist, maybe not. It doesn't matter. Open awareness
to the presence of your child as you quickly sketch his or her image.
As you do, open your awareness to your child's presence in your life,
wherever he or she may be.
When you are finished, draw
one of the following images around your child such that your child
is centered in the middle of the image: Draw a circle around
your child and then rays emanating from the circle. Your child
is the sun. Or, draw a tear drop around your child and then
many other nearby drops. Your child is a rain drop. Or,
draw a snowflake behind your child. Your child is a snowflake.
Or, draw the squiggles of an ocean and a wave surrounding
your child. Your child is a wave in the ocean. Or
draw billowing circles around your child. Your child is a cloud. Whatever
you choose to draw, see deeply into the heart of your child.
Bring to mind your child in the present moment and then sense the
natural force you selected -- see that your child
is made up of each of these wonderful aspects to nature.
When
you are with your child, reflect on your doodling and sense the presence
of nature and the cosmos within your child.
