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:
The Newspaper,
Dates, and Your Child's Birth
Atop every newspaper
is the date. You will also find the date on many web pages
(like this one), calendars, and a variety of other places.
Today's
exercise is one that can effortlessly become a part of your daily
routine. The total time it takes can be anywhere from a
few seconds to several minutes. You could also incorporate it
into a longer visualization/meditation.
When you begin to read
a newspaper or something that provides the date, rest
your eyes on the date and work the numbers back to the date your child
was born. For example, today's Morning Cup provides above March
14, 2005. Visualize the date your child was born and reflect
on the two time periods -- today and then. Hold them both in
your mind's eye at the same time.
Then, recollect, using any
of your senses, your child's birth (use your imagination if you
weren't there or can't remember). Smile as you imagine
your child's birth and the first time you saw and held your child,
or cut the umbilical cord. Where you may have used
your hands, look at your hands and recollect the sensation.
Turn your thoughts to your child today. Visualize your child in
the present moment, wherever he or she may be. Imagine
hugging your child.
Then, open awareness to thoughts
of your child's birth and of your child today. Switch back
and forth, if that's easier. To make this exercise most powerful,
feel in your hands, or anywhere in your body, the sensations you felt
back then and feel today. Doing so, you awaken yourself to the
joy residing within these moments and bring that joy into the present.
Smile.
