By Christina Fletcher
A child tells a lie and their parent panics that they will grow up to be a pathological liar.
Meanwhile, their child was simply scared of the consequences of telling the truth.
A teenager slams the door and won’t listen. Their parent shouts at the top of their lungs, wanting so much to be heard in these last few years of growing up.
Meanwhile, their teenager quietly deals with their sense of who they are in the face of bullying at school.
It is time to become conscious on how own mental chatter is interfering with our parenting choices and how, in order to be the best parent we can be, we need to look within first.
Parenting is at a crossroads. Do we continue to react in frustration to our children’s behaviour, demanding that they act the way we expect them to? Or do we dive past that initial reaction and develop the mindful presence to deal with the deeper issue at hand?
A Mindful Parent is a present and conscious person, considerate of their own triggers and perspective as they support their children, who are developing their own perspectives.
But in order to get to that compassionate space, we have to give it to ourselves, by creating habits and tools that help us get to know ourselves better, so we can offer the same awareness to our children.
We must give ourselves permission to be ourselves, giving intention to the person we want to be as well as the parent within.
Christina Fletcher is a mindfulness and life coach for parents. She will be offering workshops and classes in Mindful Parenting this May at the Breathe Mindfulness Centre at 46 Portland St, #313 in Dartmouth, starting with a workshop called Finding Mindfulness in the Chaos of Parenting on May 6th.
Registration for this event, as well as a 6 week class in Mindful Parenting, Yoga for Children and Mindfulness for Teens can take place at www.breathemindfulness.ca or by calling (902) 499-0089