Published by
Joanne on
February 24, 2010
I really enjoy the Spiritual Parenting newsletter by Mimi Doe and have been receiving it for quite some time. The title of the current one is ‘The Love That Listens”. Some of the highlights for me are:
ASK… LISTEN… AND LISTEN DEEPER
ASK….
Ask your child to make a list of all the things she wants to know more about. You may be very surprised. Follow through on this information and provider her with materials, books, teachers if appropriate, and opportunities to explore her interests. Encouraging your child’s natural inquisitiveness about all things nourishes her soul.
LISTEN…
Often a child will talk to a neighbor or friend instead of directly to you. Are there enough of these removed listeners in your child’s life? Can you be a receiving adult for a child other than your own?
LISTEN DEEPER…
Perhaps you are open and available to listen to your child but feel there is more that you need to know. Try talking directly to your child’s soul, guardian angel, or spirit. Get quiet and mentally ask if there is something you need to be aware of. You can ask for a picture or message that will help you parent in a deeper way. Listen to the thoughts that come.
PARENTS’ INSIGHT-BUILDING EXERCISE
Think of a time when you were heard as a child.
- Who listened?
- How did it feel to be heard?
- What did you say that was acknowledged?
- How does that experience live with you today?
Now think back to a time when you were there to listen to your child.
- What was that like?
- Why were you available to listen? Had you made time? Was your child demanding you stop and listen?
- What did you hear?
- How did your child react when you listened?
Ask for guidance this week on how to best hear your children’s needs. Ask for divine insight into ways you can help give your child’s feelings a voice.
Now let go and remain open to receiving insight and guidance. Listen to the subtle ways your inner wisdom is revealed.
Trust your ideas and insights; YOU are wise.
*Mimi Doe is the founder of Spiritual Parenting.com and the award-winning author of “Nurturing Your Teenager’s Soul”, “Busy But Balanced”, “10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting”, and co-author of “Don’t’ Worry Get In”. Mimi’s free newsletter, Spiritual Parenting, has more than 30m000 subscribers from around the world. Sign up on the website: www.SpiritualParenting.com.
Tags:
Children,
guidance,
joy,
life,
Mindful Parenting,
parents,
spiritual parenting
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Published by
Joanne on
February 14, 2010
THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
:: Taking Children Seriously ::
We live in a society that doesn’t take children seriously. Sure, we care deeply about children’s welfare; we do our best to help them to grow into healthy, successful adults.
But we, as a society, rarely take children seriously the way they take *themselves* seriously. To children, *play* is serious business — channeling enormous creative energies and making huge discoveries. But to adult society, it’s “just” play, so interrupting or limiting it is not a big deal.
To children, *feelings* are extremely important, not “just” feelings.
If you want to take your child more seriously, don’t do it the conventional adult way, which is to assign *weight* to the child’s concerns. That only teaches heaviness.
Children take *lightness* seriously. And when you take their lightness seriously, *you* benefit by learning to take yourself *less* seriously! 
http://dailygroove.net/seriously Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2007 by Scott Noelle
Tags:
Children,
learning,
Mindful Parenting,
natural parenting,
parents,
Scott Noelle
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Published by
Joanne on
January 8, 2010
One of the members at my adoption forums shared this with us a while back. I thought these these tips would be helpful to any parent (not just dads) who may be looking for a more respectful and gentle way of parenting.
Soulful Fathering
1. Listen to your heart when you are with your kids. Go with what feels right, not what your dad might have done or what you think fathers are supposed to do. You are the perfect match for your child. You can’t make a mistake when you follow your intuitive guidance.
2. Share your hobbies with your kids.
3. Select one day a month or year to spend one-on-one time with each child. Mark the dates in your calendar. Let your child decide what the day’s events will be and celebrate together!
4. Listen to your son or daughter. Playing catch is a wonderful time for listening.
5. Don’t forget the wonderful habit of note writing. Leave some unexpected words of encouragement in a book, under a pillow, via E-mail. If you travel, begin a postcard tradition. Send your child a postcard from each trip you take.
6. Learn something new with your children.
7. Is there a way you might make some chore a ritual your child looks forward to participating in with you? Maybe you wash the windows every spring and then have an annual water fight.
9. Share your goals with your kids. Let them know how you have achieved a dream and help them come up with an action plan to achieve their own goals.
10. Don’t forget the five “Ps” of fathering: Patience, Pure Love, Playfulness, Participation, Persistence.
11. Remember, no one on their death bed ever said they wished they’d spent more time at the office.
Tags:
hobbies,
Mindful Parenting,
playfulness,
words of encouragement
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Published by
Joanne on
September 5, 2009
Every parent would happily give up ever scolding, punishing or threatening if she only knew how to ensure that her toddler/child/teen would thrive and act responsibly without such painful measures. Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort is the answer to this universal wish. It is not about gentle ways to control a child, but about a way of being and of understanding a child so she/he can be the best of herself, not because she fears you, but because she wants to…(more…)
Tags:
freedom,
joy,
limits and rules,
Mindful Parenting,
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natural parenting,
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Published by
Joanne on
August 5, 2009
This is my all time favorite parenting book and it completely changed the way I view parenting when I read it several years ago.
Myla & Jon Kabat-Zinn are parents to three grown children. Jon is the founder and director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and is the author of Wherever You Go, There You Are (another book I highly recommend).
So what exactly is mindful parenting?
Jon had this to say in an interview, “Mindfulness, which lies at the heart of Buddhist meditation, means moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It’s cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that attention over time. It means becoming more in touch with our life as it is unfolding.
Parenting through mindfulness has the potential to penetrate past surface appearances and behaviors and allow us to see our children as they truly are, so we can act with some degree of wisdom and compassion. The more we are able to keep in mind the intrinsic wholeness and beauty of our children especially when it’s difficult to see the more our ability to be mindful deepens”
In the back of the book, they list 12 exercises for mindful parenting. The two that have helped me change my perspective the most are: “Try to imagine the world from your child’s point of view, purposefully letting go of your own. Do this everyday for at least a few moments to remind you of who this child is and what he or she faces in the world.” The other one that helps keep my focus is “Imagine how you appear and sound from your child’s point of view, i.e., having you as a parent today, in this moment. How might this modify how you carry yourself in your body and in space, how you speak, what you say. How do you want to relate to your child in this moment”?
I use these as tools with my three children and it allows me to see past their behavior. It helps when I’m getting angry and feel like yelling, to see myself, as they see me. Facing that and looking at it honestly, can be scary sometimes but putting yourself in your child’s place, will show you the world in a whole new way.
This insightful book approaches parenting from a Zen Buddhist position, but will benefit anyone who wishes to learn and maintain gentle/mindful parenting methods, regardless of religious beliefs. If you’re looking for a typical “kids versus parents” book, this is not one of them. Borrow it from the library and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
If you’re interested in purchasing this beautiful book, please click above to be taken to amazon.com’s secured server. Thanks!
Tags:
Children,
Mindful Parenting,
parents
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