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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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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(c) 2003-2004 Zen Health.  All rights reserved.
The Mindful Parent is a servicemark of Zen Health.
From the Archives
Monday July 19, 2004
           Today's Sip:  Looking Back, Today
 
The passage of time is a curious thing.  When we engage in mindful parenting, we perceive time to pass more slowly.  Perhaps this is because we absorb more of the moment.  When we reflect on moments lived mindfully, our recollection is vivid and full of life.
 
In contrast, when we lose ourselves in the moment or when we tend toward automatic behavior, time escapes us and the moment is lost.
 
Today, open awareness to the moment as if you were reflecting on it from some future time.  Pick a distant time that resonates with you -- perhaps when you are retired, perhaps when you are frail and approaching the end of your life.
 
At some time today when you are with or thinking about your child, imagine yourself experiencing this future time.  Sense the environment and yourself, as if the imagined time were actually taking place.  Breathe deeply and relax; settle into that moment.  Then, look around and observe what is taking place in the present.  Your mind may want to jump back and forth.  That is okay.
 
This is a passive exercise.  You are noticing what is happening.  But you are noticing it from a future point in time.  After a few minutes, let go of the future perspective and land squarely in the present moment. That time will come sure enough.  But you are here, now. Live the present moment with such awareness that should you reflect on it years from now, your memory is as vital and vivid as the moment passing before you eyes.
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Please share your comments on today's column.  If you would like to receive a courtesy copy of The Morning Cup column e-mailed to you each morning, click here.
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