Innate Wholeness

The beauty of parenting in the present is that each moment is new. And each moment is only happening right now. Some parents get caught up in the idea that they aren’t doing it right or that it’s this way, and not that way. When you begin parenting in the present, it is important to remember that you’re always doing your best with the information and resources you have available and you are always exactly where you need to be. If there is one thing you take away from this site, please remember the truth of that statement. Guilt only serves as a signal that change could be beneficial; it is not meant to be carried around.

Our experience has demonstrated one thing for sure, though. Parents want to experience life in harmony with their children and challenges do present themselves. The way through those challenges: parenting with presence!

How do you get to this place of parenting with presence?

A good first step is in feeling what it is to be present. Reading the article Being Present as a Parent will give you a nice basis for that feeling, as will connecting with the life energy inside of you. Take a moment right now to read the next paragraph and notice the feeling in your body.

Simply feel your breath coming in and out of your body. As you put your attention and focus in feeling your breath notice how thoughts float away from your mind and awareness. Bring your attention then into your body and feel how it feels to sit in your chair or stand on the floor. Continue to feel your breath and then bring your attention to your hands and feel the life energy inside of your hands. As you focus there you may notice tingling, and a sense of stillness and peace. Bring your attention now to the inside of your arms and really connect with the energy. Continue on up to your shoulders, neck, and head – focusing on the life energy inside each part. Now your chest, abdomen, legs, and feet. You can close your eyes or leave them open. How do you feel?

That peaceful feeling is you – at the base of your core. It is also the feeling of presence as all of the past and future is not pertinent when you are in that space. The key is to take that practice and bring it into all areas of parenting life little by little.

Of course, there are some things that prevent us from practicing presence. First, you can begin by noticing what is in the way and through taking steps to dissect what is stopping you from being present. Feeling your feelings as they come up is another part of the puzzle and connecting with your source of Life allows you to experience the truth of who you are. Essentially, you have the ability to be fully present inside of you – it just needs some nurturing.

There is something to note about the act of traveling the transformational parenting path: you are headed towards a peace you might not have thought previously possible and anything standing in front of you will try to block the path. It is up to you to maintain gentle persistence and release fear and uncertainty as you go along. In addition to paying attention and allowing space for what comes up that stands in the way of you being the parent you want to be, support makes the process easier, and more fun! (So be sure to seek it out – a good teacher, coach, or other facilitator will be glad to help you along the way).

The power you hold to literally transform your own parenting, the lives of your whole family, and the ripple effect that comes to every person you interact with while being present, is beyond measure.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 at 9:26 pm and is filed under MM Collection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.