Iqra Rasheed Sial
MINDFUL PARENTING HELPS TO GROW THE ROOTS OF SELF-AWARENESS INTO THE ENTIRE FAMILY, WHICH NOT ONLY HELPS IN DECISION MAKING, BUT ALSO IN DISCOVERING YOUR UNIQUE INDIVIDUALITY WITH MORE CREATIVE WAYS OF RAISING A HAPPY AND HEALTHY CHILD” Mindful parenting means that you bring your conscious attention to what’s happening with your child, instead of getting hijacked by your negative emotions/ thoughts from the past and start react. Let’s see how parental issues can be resolved with mindful parenting. Is your child is not listening to you? Do you know the art of telling?Is your child using too much of mobile or watching TV? Do you know the art of motivate them to do more creative things? Is your child hyperactive? Do you know how to channelize their energy? Is your child not eating nutritious food? Are you creative enough to make food nutritious?Is your child misbehaving with you? Do you know the art of giving respect in relations?Are you suffering from parental ego? Do you know the art of parenting ego by being a best friend? The art of listening: A little boy playing a baseball in the park repeatedly called to his mother standing a few away. She was texting on her cell phone and did not even look up. He called out again mom! And again mom! She never looked up. He eventually turned and walked away. These moments of not listening your kids stores into their subconscious mind and they learn the behavior of not listing to others. Listening to them is one of the best ways to make your bond strong. Listing not only needs your ears but it also needs an eye contact. You can practice this art by stable and relaxed body posture. Practice deep and slow breath and calm your mind to receive/ listen. Practice four foundations of mindfulness by being aware of your kids and self including physical body, feelings, mental states and your total nature. Curious Vs panic: Tackle your emotions and thoughts with the sense of curiosity rather than a sense of panic or guilt. Take bad mood as passing weather with enormous grain of salt. Perform random acts of kindness by placing yourself in their place. Amplify their happiness when they are happy but moderate support when sad, which motivates them to live life more happily. Compassion: You may not agree with your child’s actions or thoughts, but mindful parenting encourages parents to have compassion. This involves being empathetic and understanding for the child’s position in the moment. Compassion extends to the parent as well, as there’s ultimately less self-blame if a situation doesn’t turn out as you’d hoped. Be mindful to match your child’s wavelength to channelize: Observe them not with the glasses of your unfulfilled goals but as neutral weather to understand their real wavelength. Keep aside your parental ego and hug them from heart and try to listen what is unsaid. Their dynamic unstructured energy can be channelized through motivational storytelling, hearing with fun, leading by example, dancing, singing and playing with them. From breath matching to eye catching: Another brilliant method for developing a deep rapport with children is by matching the breath and stabilizing eyes with them as part of a play. According to neuro-linguistic training technique parents usually breath out when they talk with parental ego and fail to communicate.“Be very attentive towards the child’s evolving World of Senses that needs Stability, Routine, & Structure, World of Emotions that needs Love, Freedom & Creativity and World of Thoughts that needs Discrimination as an Ability to choose Right Thinking, Emotions, Behaviour.”
