The Morning Sip: Listen
To Your Child
With Your Hands
Through the practice of mindful
parenting, we open awareness to the present moment. For it is
only by witnessing and participating in the present moment that we
are able to respond to what arises in a balanced and alert manner.
If
you were asked to point to the part of you that "listens," you would
probably point to your ears and head. Indeed, our brain has
done a very good job marginalizing the rest of our body. But
our brain and its most famous inhabitant, the ego, are just a small
part of who we are as human beings.
Today, when you are listening
to your child (or, if you will not spend time physically present
with your child, then when you are looking at a picture of your
child, or reading a letter or e-mail from them), welcome the
rest of your body into the listening experience. Start
with your hands.
These hands
Know the world
Better than I do
Your hands are a marvelous and beautiful part
of your body. They sense the world through intricate and sensitive nerve
endings all along the palms and finger tips. They are receptive
to sound waves and other vibrations. Whether you know
it or not, they are always listening. They listen from a place
of stillness.
So, while you are listening to your child, lift
up your hands slightly and acknowledge to yourself that your hands
are listening also. As your child speaks, relax and
open awareness to both your ears and hands -- place extra attention
on the hands. Doing this may feel strange, but it will come
very naturally. You will feel an intuition. (Have you
ever placed your hands behind your ears to listen more intently?)
As
you do, breathe deeply and smile. Relax your shoulders and
feel your belly rise with each breath. Opening awareness
in this way, you will come to understand your child ever so much
more deeply.
Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which we become more mindful of our children and, in doing so, experience a more joyful life.
The Mindful Parent is an organization
devoted to sharing with parents and other child caregivers ways in
which to enhance the many joys of parenting. By mindfully attending
to our children, both when we are physically present with them and
when we are physically separated from them, we can enhance our sense
of connection to them and, in turn, our connection to the cosmos.
This makes us a better parent, a happier person, and a more vital
human being.
To facilitate a more mindful approach to parenting,
The Mindful Parent publishes on its website, and in its bi-weekly
newsletter,
mindful parenting
verses and commentaries. The Mindful
Parent website also serves as a community forum that encourages and
supports a mindful parenting dialogue and the sharing of mindful parenting
experiences.
In the spirit of developing a mindful parenting
community, we encourage you to
submit a mindful parenting
experience through verse, commentary, and imagery to share with others.
We believe that through our collective experience, we can help
each other develop a deeper and more meaningful mindful
parenting practice.
Click here to learn more about making a
submssion. We thank everyone who has contributed or is considering
making this very compassionate contribution.
Click
here to learn what
recent events are taking place and of changes to The Mindful Parent
website. Please
contact us with your questions about mindful
parenting or to share a mindful parenting experience. We are
devoted to working with you to enhance your ability to "be" with your
children, and to experience the bliss that awaits you.
