Mindful Parent

This is my first post in this site and I decided mindfulness as the topic because this is by far the best thing I have done for myself after becoming a mom. Not just for me, our whole family has adopted mindfulness and committed to learning and taking the journey. There were days after having both kids when a lot of things went wrong for us as parents, and by simply saying let us be mindful, me and my husband felt like we spoke a different language, understood each other and the vibe changed. The very moment we realize the present state of our body and mind, we correct ourselves and find solutions.

If you are like me, interested in mindfulness, you will enjoy this. I learned meditation in my mid-teens. (weird right). I used to be that person who is all over the place mindlessly doing everything I see and somehow ended up taking mindfulness classes that would help me latter in my life.

But that wandering life style cannot help me anymore and I must grow. Every minute is important to me for all the different roles I play in my life today. For several years I did not practice mindfulness, but I wanted to get back since I know deep inside I had to manage things better and I procrastinated. But after having our second child I began my mindfulness journey again. It is the only way I could get more done from the limited 24 hours that we all have in a day.

Not sure where to start, I started by reading books on mindfulness and this book changed everything for me and my husband. (Mindfulness Book). The first six chapters are hard to read and being the impatient person, I am I skimmed through and in the seventh chapter I decided to make it my bible. I purchased the audio copy of the book as well and felt so easy to be mindful around the times I listened, and the rest of the times I consistently failed.

But even with the littlest time I practiced I noticed tremendous improvement in my work and family life.

Here are some things that even the busiest person can do to get started. There is a pause that you have to remember before starting and remind yourself of your present and that makes the magic happen.

1)       Brush mindfully:

When you are ready to brush the teeth, pause and take a moment to note that you are taking on a brushing task. Begin your brushing as usual but this time simply observe every moment. Notice your brush, its color, its bristles and then the paste and as you start brushing pause for one in breath and pause for one out breathe, opening the awareness to whatever inside you notice or around you. Pause whenever you need to bring back your awareness and committing to be in the present.

Your only goal is to observe that you are brushing the teeth. Thoughts will come, then make a note of the thought and come back by pausing and starting to observe. It is easier said than done and every time I practiced I found a new experience. Brushing has transform into the new walking into church experience for me.

2)       Driving

I love natural essential oil sprays and they instantly pause me. (If you are interested in medical grade essential oils you can find them here or you can find something at your local grocery store). Frankincense is my favorite essential oil and I made a car spray with it and use it every time I start my car. Driving is a great activity to practice mindfulness, you can even pop your favorite mindfulness audio to assist with your practice.

3)       Journaling

Our brain constantly wants to go to the to do list. Here is one way to handle it. Provide a time and place to download your to do list from your mind and write it down and keep it accessible throughout the day, so your mind would not wander often to think about what is next.

4)       Calendar

Using a calendar appropriately is a must skill to learn for all parents. “How to use a calendar efficiently” will be a post of its own because of its scope. Tasks that go in the calendar are the tasks we do. This can be of great help in practicing mindfulness. If you are driving to work from home and you decide to practice mindfulness, you put it in calendar as driving mindfully with some notes to help mindfulness and it becomes driving mindfully time and not texting or social media time.