Heart's Rhythm (Step Four)

Place your hand on your heart, to make yourself aware of your heart and heart beat. This heartbeat is your oldest cellular memory. It is the echo of your mother’s heartbeat which you heard in utero. This heartbeat is not just circulating blood; it is pulsing and broadcasting your emotional state 10-20 feet outside your body. Do you know what you are broadcasting to your family? If you want to you can heighten this pulsing feeling by placing your right hand over your heart and hooking your right wrist with your left hand so that your left middle fingers are over the artery on your right wrist. This is the spot nurses use to take your pulse. Let yourself fully enter into this rhythm of your heartbeat, take your time and experience this consoling rhythm of your heart. Almost all emotional upsets throw us out of rhythm. Our children look to us to set the rhythm of the day; our children’s hearts entrain to ours. The secret to parenting is balance. Can you walk into a child’s messy room and stay in your heart and breathing in and out in rhythm with your heartbeats? Can you maintain your rhythm during a child’s temper tantrum, pouting, whining? Remember that talking about things when a child’s upset is a waste of time. However, children do respond to your rhythm. Maintaining your own rhythm amidst the daily challenges of parenting is the goal. Try going through your day and keep your rhythm, your self-confidence. As you get pulled off and frustrated by events, bring yourself gently back to your breath and put your breath in rhythm with your heartbeat. Find a rhythm that works for you, today, at this moment. Fully exhale for 4, 6, or 8 beats (or any number that feels right for you) and fully inhale for 6 beats (or whatever rhythm you’re using). Find a deep, full, satisfying rhythm. You can do this while you’re standing looking at the mess! And you can walk in rhythm as you push the grocery cart through the store. Of course, hopefully, you can find a few minutes here and there to actually sit still and focus deeply on rhythmic breath and return to balance.