Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which we become more mindful of our children and, in doing so, experience a more joyful life.
Your mindful parenting practice tip of the day.  Be sure to sip slowly
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The Mindful Parent 
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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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The Daily Sip:
Your Child's Body Temperature And The Sun
 
Our day to day experience takes us in many directions, often without notice.  While we try to plan, there is much in this world that cannot be anticpated.  Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised with what materializes.  And, at other times we are disappointed.
 
The art of mindful living is to embrace all that crosses our path for what it is -- an expression of the present moment.  When things become uncomfortable, we know deep inside that there is nothing to be gained by resisting.  We intuit that our energy is better directed at responding to the situation at hand.  And, of course, when things are proceeding smoothly, we do not want to risk disrupting them.
 
The practice of mindful parenting can help open awareness to the heart of the present moment.  Awareness of the presence of our child, when felt deeply, guides us into the here and now.  Awareness of our child's body temperature is one such pathway.
 
               Deep inside my child's body
               There is an energy
               As powerful as the sun
 
Our child's body is its own vast cosmos, with its own sun.  While, from time to time there are unprectable and perhaps undesirable fluctuations in our child's body temperature, just as the Earth is warmed by the sun, so to our child's body is warmed by an internal sun.  This is a beautiful reminder that while life bounces us around, there is a stabilizing force that transcends the moment.
 
Today, look to the sun and really "feel" the termperature.  When you do, recite today's verse and open to the extraordinary beauty of your child's presence on this Earth.  Sense the sun, inside your child's body, regulating so many functions and sustaining your child.  
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A complete archive of "The Morning Cup" columns can be found here.
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Tuesday January 18, 2005
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