Being a mom is a BIG job! The consistent requests of, “Mom! Can we go to the park?” “Mom, can you make me food?” “Mom, did you forget my lunch?” can add up and feel overwhelming. Finding ways to more fully enjoy the responsibilities of being a mom can help your days parenting be a bit easier. Mindfulness, a research supported technique, can help you feel more relaxed, and calm throughout the day.
What is Mindfulness?
In simplest terms, mindfulness is the act of being fully aware of the present moment. In John Kabat-Zin’s, “Wherever You Go, There You Are,” he eloquently describes that mindfulness is a practice of increasing awareness and acceptance of your life and your situations in a non-judging way. Research has explained that these mindfulness practices can help you become more relaxed, lowering anxiety and even lower your blood pressure (Bell, 2015)! Finding ways to use this powerful tool in your life can help your parenting and health improve!
Practicing Mommy Mindfulness
One way to practice mommy mindfulness is to set a goal of having three mindful moments in a day. You can do this by selecting three parts of the day where you are typically busy, but not too busy to take a five-minute break. Go ahead and set your phone alarm to these three times (I know it may seem hard to find three times, but really try hard to plan ahead!). These times will be your chance to practice being a mindful mom for five minutes. Here is what you need to do:
Become Aware of Your Breathing
As soon as your alarm goes off, take the chance to inhale deeply. Pause with your breath and then breathe out slowly counting to five. Repeat this process four more times, each time allowing yourself to become more aware of the breath. Notice the sensations of your chest raising and lowering. As you take breath in, try to notice each breath coming in past your lips, through your mouth and deeper into your lungs. Begin to slowly breathe out and notice the breath gently leaving back out through your lungs and out through your mouth. As you become more aware of your breaths, slowly begin noticing the sensations in your body.
Become Aware of Your Body’s Sensations
As you are noticing each of your breaths, begin to gently explore all of your sensations. Start at your toes and begin to notice any tension that you might have. Slowly explore your calves, noticing the warmth or cool of the air on your skin. Continue moving up to your stomach and notice any tension, uneasiness, or sense of calm. As you move up your chest, notice any tension that you might have connected to your arms. Begin to notice the tension of your neck by rotating your head gently from side to side. As you complete this body scan, gently transition back to noticing each of the breaths you take in and then gently let each one go.
Notice Your Thoughts
As you continue noticing each of your breaths, you’ll likely experience different thoughts coming and going. As each of these thoughts enter your mind, simply notice them. Let your judgment of these thoughts pass by simply acknowledging the thought. Let these thoughts leave as effortlessly as they come. Visualize each of your thoughts as a leaf. Now imagine that the leaf floating down a river out of sight. After practicing this for five minutes, gently come back and let your thoughts return. This marks the finish of a practicing a session of mindfulness.
What do you think?
Practicing these three steps can help you become more mindful. Just like playing any new sport, mindfulness skills will take time to develop. Be patient with yourself and really commit to meeting the three-time goal. Keep on practicing and you are likely to improve at being a mindful mommy.
Mindfulness can be a bit confusing and tricky to understand. If you finished reading this post and are still a bit confused that is OKAY! Mindfulness is a practice that many spend their entire lives improving upon. Because of this, I would encourage you to be ‘mindful’ of the experience and do a few things:
