Guided Practice for Parenting from the Heart (Step One)

Over the next few posts I want to share the 5 steps in Heart-Rhythm Practice for parents. Each guided meditation is between 5 and 10 minutes. Mindfulness meditation on our hearts and breath is a core practice for beginning to truly parent from our hearts. The first step is a sitting and grounding practice I call 'The Great Lap'. This upright, openhearted posture reminds us of our inherent value and worth as parents...especially at those times that we feel overwhelmed and even inadequate to the demands placed upon us. As we open our hearts and bring them forward in awareness, we may discover a capacity to work with the challenge in front of us more creatively, less reactively, and with more confidence. We create an "unconditional lap of love," that provides a place of physical and emotional safety for our children (and ourselves). A place of refuge in an uncertain world. A child need not physically sit in our lap, but by taking a few moments to sit and be still and feel our inner strength and solidness, we can carry that sense of ourselves forward into our interactions. Beginning and ending our day with 5 minutes of this noble posture begins to initiate deep, positive changes in our parenting....moving away from just being pulled around by the demands and chaos of the day...we learn that we can sit still and 'be with' whatever is happening...not get pulled off balance...we learn to trust the posture and ourselves....