24 Aug 5 Things Meditation Taught Me about Parenting

Parenting is fun but it is equally challenging too. Managing your work and taking care of your kids at the same time is no easy task. You might sometimes carry your emotions from your professional arena and pour it on your kids. Frustration might easily penetrate within you and you might lose patience at every possible thing. I too faced a lot of challenges. Many times I sat blank and did not know what to do. But, thanks to meditation, I found parenting more enjoyable than I ever imagined it to be. It taught me many things some of which could be applied to parenting as well. Here are top 5 things that meditation taught me to be a better parent:

• Patience is the Key

As you make meditation a part of your daily life, you will learn gradually that you don’t have to react to everything. You need to accept whatever comes by and think judiciously to respond better. You will learn the art of patience to manage tough situations. So whenever my kids misbehave or don’t do what I want them do, I don’t react loosely, rather I try to understand their point of view and devise plans to tackle such situations better if required.

• Take it Easy

Sometimes during meditation, I am not able to focus properly. My mind keeps wandering around and it becomes hard for me to bring it back on track. However sometimes, my mind stays right on track all by itself and I end up having an amazing meditation session. Not all days are good but not all days are bad either. Some days are even better than others. This holds true for parenting as well. You might get irritated at times but most of the time you will enjoy it. If something goes wrong, forgive yourself, learn and move on. Good times will come too. Meditation taught me not to judge my kids every time and create a pre-conceived notion of them.

• Divert and not Fight

While you are meditating, a zillion thoughts pass through your mind. But, meditation teaches you that you do not have to cling to these thoughts. You need to less them pass by. Acknowledge them but do not try to change them. I applied this theory on my kids as well. Whenever they ask for something which is not right, I do not oppose them or try to change them. This is because if I do so, they will start throwing tantrums and I will have to agree to their demands at the end. Hence, what I do is I acknowledge their demands but then try to divert their mind with something or the other and get successful.

• Blue Sky above Storm Clouds

Negative thoughts may clutter your mind but there is always peace and contentment within you just like there is a clear sky above the storm clouds. Parenting is not a piece of cake. Many times I felt that I am a very bad parent. But, thanks to meditation that it taught me a very important lesson. I realized that handling your kids can be frustrating at times but, once you begin to remember the sweet and peaceful moments of love and care, you can get back to be your normal self again. You feel content when you understand that no matter how rough the situation goes, but the love between a child and a parent will never be lost.

• Be in the Moment

By being in the moment, I mean be in the present and do not bother about past and future. What happened in the past has happened and you have no idea about what will happen in the future. So you need to focus on how are your kids today. Your kids grow up and you do not even it realize how time passed. So, instead of worrying about how your kids will be after a few years, enjoy the time with him right now and make memories. This is what I learnt from meditation and I happy about it.

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Additional Resources:

Interested in learning more about mindfulness or meditation in general? Here are a few posts to get you started:

1. 3 Healing Powers of Mind Against Depression
2. The Revolutionary Art of Mindfulness Meditation
3. 10 Myths about Meditation and Mindfulness
4. Manage your thoughts with Mindfulness
5. Mindfulness can help you develop Compassion & Gratitude
6. 10 Scientifically proven benefits of Mindfulness
7. Using Mindfulness to reduce Pain
8. Using Mindfulness to stop ruining our lives
9. How Mindfulness is helpful in dealing with emotions
10. 10 Powerful life lessons from Mindfulness - Part 1
11. 10 Powerful life lessons from Mindfulness - Part 2