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.
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making this very compassionate contribution.
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The Daily Sip:
Washing
Your Hands
And Your Child's Many Happy Birthdays
We wash our hands
many times each day. It is an event that passes without much
fanfare, though an important one, with flu season upon many of
us. Our hands manipulate the soap or soap dispenser and then
bathe in the water flow with automatic precision, and before we know
it, we are looking for a towel. The practice of mindful parenting can
transform this mundane event into one of profound moment.
Today,
when you wash your hands, allow the experience to last for more than
just a few seconds. Breathe deeply and relax your shoulders.
Soften your belly. Were each finger to represent ten years
of your child's life, together they would amount to a lifetime. As
you massage the soap into your hands, sing aloud or to yourself "Happy
Birthday" to your child. Make it through at least one verse,
more if you are able. As you sing, allow your awareness to linger
on one finger and sense your child celebrating a birthday taking place
in the decade that that finger represents. (The first
finger would represent the first ten years, the seventh
finger the seventh decade, and so on). Perhaps it is a decade
that has passed; perhaps it is one yet to come. Maybe it is
the decade in which your child is presently living.
As you continue to wash your hands, sense the presence of your
wonderful child. As you look at your hands, you may want
to imagine one of your hands holding one of your child's hands.
Smile.
