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.
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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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The Morning Sip: One Jewel Among Many
When
your child becomes difficult to interact with, you may want to
share with them that you recognize their behavior to be just
a small part of who they are as a human being. Perhaps they
are very angry. This means that the angry part of them
is in charge at the moment. But the anger is just one small
part of them -- there are thousands of other parts, which all
together make up who they are. So often when a wave
of difficult thinking or perception flows over a child, they can become
so absorbed in the behavior, that they lose themselves in it.
Sharing this with your child can open awareness so that
while they are experiencing a mood, they are aware that
it is not all that they are. As a result, it will be easier
for your child to not allow momentary forces, both internal
and external, to overwhelm them and cause them to suffer.
Through
the practice of mindful parenting, you can come to realize the same
in yourself.
This part of me
Is but one jewel
In a vast treasure chest
Today, when your child becomes difficult
or upset, share with your child that you understand that what they
are feeling is just a small part of them. Perhaps give it a
label "Mr. Difficult" or together "point to it" when it emerges.
When your child begins to observe that part of them from a larger
perspective, the suffering begins to dissipate.
So too, when
you find yourself becoming frustrated or angry, recite the above
verse. Visualize the jewel that is the anger or frustration.
Breathe deeply and allow your mind to see it sparkling along with
the other rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds.
At the moment its sparkle is a little more intense than the others.
But that is just the light of the moment shining on it. Shine
the light of mindfulness on that jewel and all the jewels.
