Cultivate your practice
Every single moment is an opportunity to cultivate and practice mindfulness. Kids are incredibly resilient and forgiving and if parents don’t make the mark the first time around, kids allow many more chances to get it right. Simply being present with your child is being mindful. It’s more about quality than quantity; it’s about your authenticity and intention to be your best self as a parent. We can’t expect from our kids what we are practicing in ourselves.
So, how do you become a mindful parent? First, cultivate your own daily practice. If it speaks to you, develop a formal practice of a sitting or walking meditation. If not, carve out at least one minute per day to be still, quiet the mind and connect with your heart. You are your best source for innate knowledge and wisdom and when you find the time to connect your heart and mind, you inherently will be living a more aware and mindful life. Do all the tasks you are already doing, but simply do it with intentional awareness. Notice if your experience changes when you are paying attention.
Once you have begun a personal practice, you will be able to experience what calm amidst the chaos feels like. You will have the wisdom to listen to your inner wisdom when making choices or decisions. When you practice taking a minute to just breathe, you will know how to respond and not react. Once established, you can begin to role model mindfulness to your children. The way that you speak, connect, touch, listen, talk, guide, reprimand, comfort, console, help, hug, nurture and love your child will be done in a way that is not just routine, but rather in a moment of deep connection that you both will feel.
Every single moment is an opportunity to cultivate and practice mindfulness. Kids are incredibly resilient and forgiving and if parents don’t make the mark the first time around, kids allow many more chances to get it right. Simply being present with your child is being mindful. It’s more about quality than quantity; it’s about your authenticity and intention to be your best self as a parent. We can’t expect from our kids what we are practicing in ourselves.
So, how do you become a mindful parent? First, cultivate your own daily practice. If it speaks to you, develop a formal practice of a sitting or walking meditation. If not, carve out at least one minute per day to be still, quiet the mind and connect with your heart. You are your best source for innate knowledge and wisdom and when you find the time to connect your heart and mind, you inherently will be living a more aware and mindful life. Do all the tasks you are already doing, but simply do it with intentional awareness. Notice if your experience changes when you are paying attention.
Once you have begun a personal practice, you will be able to experience what calm amidst the chaos feels like. You will have the wisdom to listen to your inner wisdom when making choices or decisions. When you practice taking a minute to just breathe, you will know how to respond and not react. Once established, you can begin to role model mindfulness to your children. The way that you speak, connect, touch, listen, talk, guide, reprimand, comfort, console, help, hug, nurture and love your child will be done in a way that is not just routine, but rather in a moment of deep connection that you both will feel.
Practice
~ taking a minute to just breathe
~ finding your center
~ to respond and not react
~ making eye contact
~ being intentional with your touch
~ listening with an open heart
~ problem solving with patience and understanding
~ calming yourself down
~ cultivating gratitude and compassion
~ mindful eating
~ putting down your device
~ being in the moment
~ speaking your truth
~ role modeling the behaviors you wish to see
~ being unattached to the outcome
~ slowing down – your kids aren’t always on same timeframe as you
~ respecting your child’s sovereignty
~ honoring the ways you and your kids are different
~ being aware of the little things
~ listening to the message behind your child’s questions or comments
~ paying attention to your 6th sense – your intuition
~ taking a minute to just breathe
~ finding your center
~ to respond and not react
~ making eye contact
~ being intentional with your touch
~ listening with an open heart
~ problem solving with patience and understanding
~ calming yourself down
~ cultivating gratitude and compassion
~ mindful eating
~ putting down your device
~ being in the moment
~ speaking your truth
~ role modeling the behaviors you wish to see
~ being unattached to the outcome
~ slowing down – your kids aren’t always on same timeframe as you
~ respecting your child’s sovereignty
~ honoring the ways you and your kids are different
~ being aware of the little things
~ listening to the message behind your child’s questions or comments
~ paying attention to your 6th sense – your intuition
Mindfulness for Your Children
Kids are born inherently mindful – they are much closer to experiencing present moment awareness than adults are. Even if they don’t always understand it or have the ability to verbalize the way that adults do, children often just feel what they’re feeling in the moment, say what they’re thinking and be more present in their responses. Obviously it is important to teach children to filter what is appropriate, but in doing so, parents sometimes discourage kids from acknowledging or expressing what is arising. Kids have a beautiful ability to experience each moment without always judging it or trying to change it – they are simply just in it. When they’re sad, they’re just sad; when they’re tired, they just want to sleep; and when they’re happy, the exuberance on their face shows it.
Over time, through socialization and conforming to social and educational norms, kids are often taught to put aside what is arising in the moment and not acknowledge what is going on. They are not always encouraged to delve further into their experience because sometimes “life happens” at times that may be inappropriate. Cultivating a mindfulness practice with kids gives them the tools to stay with their present moment experience and develop their authenticity.
Kids of any age can learn and benefit from a mindfulness practice. Teaching kids mindful breathing (breathing with awareness), how to slow down and the possibility for being still gives them the tools get back to their inherent connection with themselves. Kids (as well as their parents!) are so bombarded by constant distractions such as technology and digital devices, and our society is so fast paced that slowing down is often not fostered or encouraged. Mindfulness gives kids the chance to disconnect from sensory overload and allow for the opportunity to connect with themselves.
Kids are born inherently mindful – they are much closer to experiencing present moment awareness than adults are. Even if they don’t always understand it or have the ability to verbalize the way that adults do, children often just feel what they’re feeling in the moment, say what they’re thinking and be more present in their responses. Obviously it is important to teach children to filter what is appropriate, but in doing so, parents sometimes discourage kids from acknowledging or expressing what is arising. Kids have a beautiful ability to experience each moment without always judging it or trying to change it – they are simply just in it. When they’re sad, they’re just sad; when they’re tired, they just want to sleep; and when they’re happy, the exuberance on their face shows it.
Over time, through socialization and conforming to social and educational norms, kids are often taught to put aside what is arising in the moment and not acknowledge what is going on. They are not always encouraged to delve further into their experience because sometimes “life happens” at times that may be inappropriate. Cultivating a mindfulness practice with kids gives them the tools to stay with their present moment experience and develop their authenticity.
Kids of any age can learn and benefit from a mindfulness practice. Teaching kids mindful breathing (breathing with awareness), how to slow down and the possibility for being still gives them the tools get back to their inherent connection with themselves. Kids (as well as their parents!) are so bombarded by constant distractions such as technology and digital devices, and our society is so fast paced that slowing down is often not fostered or encouraged. Mindfulness gives kids the chance to disconnect from sensory overload and allow for the opportunity to connect with themselves.
Family Practice
Practicing mindfulness as a family is a beautiful opportunity to strengthen the connections, deepen experiences and cultivate a pattern of being open, communicative and present. Mindfulness is a way of being; it is not something you add to your to-do list and need to necessarily schedule time to do. Rather, it is the manner in which you live your life, the ways you respond to what is arising and how you relate to the people around you. It truly is living with a greater level of awareness and being intentional in your thoughts and actions. Below are examples of mindfulness practices that are fun and beneficial to do as a family:
~ mindful eating
~ keeping gratitude jar or gratitude journal
~ making a “moody jar” – adapted from Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee MacLean
~ taking walks in nature – listen and see what is around you as if experiencing it for first time
~ cultivate a lovingkindness practice
~“May you be healthy and strong; may you be happy; may you be peaceful”
~ doing nothing – just being together without digital distractions
~ slowing down
~ creating sacred space
~ acknowledging feelings and emotions without always having to solve them
~ being flexible and going with the flow – just let it be
~ having fun together
~ honoring differences
Practicing mindfulness as a family is a beautiful opportunity to strengthen the connections, deepen experiences and cultivate a pattern of being open, communicative and present. Mindfulness is a way of being; it is not something you add to your to-do list and need to necessarily schedule time to do. Rather, it is the manner in which you live your life, the ways you respond to what is arising and how you relate to the people around you. It truly is living with a greater level of awareness and being intentional in your thoughts and actions. Below are examples of mindfulness practices that are fun and beneficial to do as a family:
~ mindful eating
~ keeping gratitude jar or gratitude journal
~ making a “moody jar” – adapted from Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee MacLean
~ taking walks in nature – listen and see what is around you as if experiencing it for first time
~ cultivate a lovingkindness practice
~“May you be healthy and strong; may you be happy; may you be peaceful”
~ doing nothing – just being together without digital distractions
~ slowing down
~ creating sacred space
~ acknowledging feelings and emotions without always having to solve them
~ being flexible and going with the flow – just let it be
~ having fun together
~ honoring differences