The Daily Sip:  Be Mindful Of The Distractions

 

To practice mindful parenting is to be in touch with the present moment.  The practice serves to push aside the many distractions that bombard us so that true awareness of the moment may surface.  When it does, we can trust our behavior and decision making.  Oftentimes, however, the distractions can be powerful and difficult to overcome.  One example of a powerful distraction is hunger.

 

The desire to eat derives from many sources, only one of which is a physiological need for nutrition.  Sometimes, it may be the case, that your desire to eat is in competition with the ability to mindfully be present with your child.  For example, your child may be having a difficult time falling asleep at the same time you are motivated to get up and eat something from the refrigerator.  Where is your mind -- on the food or your child?

 

If you were so nutritionally depleted that you had to eat, of course, you would eat first.  But, sometimes our desire to eat is motivated out of other feeling and emotion states.  When our child is expressing need on the one hand and we are distracted to eat on the other, we can become very frustrated. 

 

When you find yourself conflicted in this regard, the wonderful opportunity to move into mindfulness presents itself.  Take a deep breath and open your awareness to your hunger feeling.  Is it real?  Open your awareness to your beautiful child.  Is your child's need real?  

 

By bringing awareness your child and the distraction, you become mindful of the present moment.  Doing so, you will have a greater capacity to act lovingly and with an open heart to both yourself and your child.    

 

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.