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.
Sign
up for The Mindful Parent newsletter and receive information and tips
on mindful parenting. It's easy, free, and fulfilling.
The Daily Sip: Awaken
To Your Child's Sound
Through the practice of mindful parenting,
we open our hearts to explore more fully and experience more deeply
the organic connection between our self and our child. This
connection is a powerful one which helps us to transcend
the moment and to touch the cosmos.
One of the
simplest ways your child can awaken you to the present moment is to
open awareness to your child as sounder of a bell of mindfulness.
Indeed, so many times we look deeply into our child and feel such
abundant joy and love. On such occasions our concerns with the
past and future fall away. But, the routine of our day
to day lives often disrupt the natural depth and beauty of these feelings
of love and compassion. This is so, even with regard
to our relationship with our child.
Today, when you interact
with your child (whether in person, over the phone, and even through
the Internet or your memory) observe the silence just before and just
after he or she speaks. Breathe deeply and relax
as you notice your child's beautiful voice vibrating out of the stillness
and then, like a wave, floating off into the cosmos. When
your child finishes speaking, open to the stillness in that moment.
Your child's voice and presence are a powerful reminder of the reality
of the present moment. You are alive and breathing on this
chunk of Earth spinning across the cosmos. When your
child speaks, it is as if the cosmos invites your child to sound,
like a bell, and then your child's sound echoes off
into the distance. Follow it with your heart.
My child's beautiful voice
Like a bell
Opens my heart
To this precious moment
