Feeling Stressed? Meditation is a Miracle!
Some people search far and wide for a spiritual teacher or journey.
They feel like they need to travel to another country or don special robes to become spiritual. Maybe they seek out a teacher and study sacred texts. This is one way to learn about yourself as a person and test patience, practice mindfulness and find ways to be broken open.
Another way is to be a parent. Nothing shines a light up to our weakness and shortcomings more than being sleep deprived, having your body become a human milk machine, training a toddler to learn how to use the potty and get up in time for work without being late. And it doesn’t stop there.
Whether they are in diapers, pulls ups, shopping for a first bra or applying for college scholarships, kids will inspire, delight, sadden, worry, motivate, exasperate, move and touch you in ways you ever knew could.
Parenting is a spiritual journey, so why not use these tools to guide us through it?
Metta Meditation
This is meditation of loving kindness. Typically this is directed six ways. First, we send loving kindness to ourselves. Seems easy enough, but think about it—how many times do we beat ourselves up as parents?
We tell ourselves we screwed up, we compare ourselves to other parents that seem to be doing a better job, we mentally scold ourselves for not being enough.
Send yourself some loving kindness, Mama. Even on your worst days you are moving mountains. For me, sometimes this step alone is enough to bring me to tears.
Second, send it to someone you love or care about. This can be a child, a spouse, a parent, a best friend—anyone that we say hands down and no doubt we hold fierce love for that person.
Third, send it to a “neutral” person. Send it to your neighbor that waves hello every morning when you head out the door. Send it to the coffee barista at Starbucks. These people are neither a frustration or a support system but they are on the fringe of our lives as we are theirs and they are fighting their own demons and rejoicing in their own successes. Why not send them love?
Fourth, send it to the person that makes you want to pull out your hair right now. This could be your spouse, your partner, your boss or—yes, your child. As a matter of fact, this is a great tool to use when your child is throwing a temper tantrum while in line to see Frozen at the movie theater. It is the perfect practice when your teen has decided to sleep late and not wash the dishes like you have asked and now wants you to take her to the mall.
Stop, breathe, loving kindness before I turn into a raging lunatic.
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