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Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which our connection to our child, and awareness of our child’s presence, helps us become better grounded in the present moment

Your mindful parenting practice

tip of the day.

Sip slowly.

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 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 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 submission.  We thank everyone who has made a contribution.

Please contact us with your questions about mindful parenting or to share a mindful parenting experience.  The Mindful Parent conducts mindful parenting  workshops and seminars. 

 

The Week of February 7, 2010

The Morning   Cup

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If you would like a copy of The Morning Cup column e-mailed to you, click here.

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The Daily Sip: Seeing Your Child

When was the last time you saw your child?  Really, truly, and deeply saw your child?

To see your child is to allow them to be just as they are in this moment. To see your child is to resonate with them with such integrity that compassion flows spontaneously. When you really see your child they know they are seen as they are and loved for who they are. There is no judgment. Only an open heart.

Mindful parenting invites you to explore ways to come to really see your child. For when you do, you begin to really see yourself.

Our sense of sight, like all the other senses can be engaged in more than one way.  Without trying, we just see.  What’s “out there” is instinctively perceived by the brain’s neural circuity. And when it becomes relevant, we become conscious of what’s there. This kind of attention is not deliberate.  It is not mindful.

Mindfulness involves the intentional shift of awareness. You choose to attend to what is arising in the moment. In that choosing, your brain’s activity changes, and you become master of the moment.  Habit loses its impulsive edge. Your breathing softens, and you “wake up!” For how long, it entirely up to you. And it takes practice.

Today, make the choice to really see what is arising moment by moment. In the spirit of mindful parenting, allow your child to be the cue that reminds you to make this shift in awareness. 

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, put a note by them to remind you to really open your eyes to what’s before you when you put them on in the morning or take them off in the evening. If they are glasses, carry them in your hands until you are with your child and then put them on. If you talk with your   child on the phone, have them nearby as a reminder to really see them (listen to them).

Today’s verse offers a reminder of how each moment is an opportunity to see with fresh eyes:

        Each time I blink I open my eyes

        For the first time

        Breathing in, I see my child as they are

        And I begin to see myself

Mindfulness is an experience. As you practice seeing with a mindful eye, no need to think too much. Just see.  Just breath.  Notice what just is.  Smile.

Click below to read a recent Morning Cup Column

“With Every Step”

“The Three Mindful R’s”

“The First Day -- Again”