The Practice of living meditation is not to run away or disregard the distractions but to use these distractions themselves as our focus to practice mindfulness.
Mindful parenting is the practice of embodying wholeness, of being fully present with our children at any given moment such that our hearts may be a little more open and our minds a little clearer. To parent in this way means that we strive to be conscious of our children as separate beings. In seeing them as separate, we can be more deeply connected. Parenting mindfully is hard work. It requires a kind of discipline that helps free us from our habitual reactivity, and creates the space for us to respond in a more thoughtful and conscious manner. With this practice we can notice our own contractions, our fears, and our projections, and can choose to respond in more skillful ways.
While at times we can feel like our children are a distraction from our spiritual practice, we can also see children as our spiritual teachers. If we allow our attention to be fully present, with our children, we can dramatically deepen our connection to them and to ourselves.
This Mindful Mothering Group is for mothers of babies between 5 and 24 months. The group creates a play-space within which mothers can explore the path of mindful mothering, through moment-to-moment awareness. In holding the intention to be fully present to our little ones, while simultaneously being present with ourselves, we may experience a shifting sense of togetherness and separateness, as our awareness moves back and forth between who and what is in the foreground at any given moment. If we allow this fluid process to occur, without clinging or avoiding, we can experience greater calm and less suffering.
Groups meet for one-and-a-half hours in North Berkeley at Cedar and Shattuck and members make a four week commitment which can be renewed at any time. Cost of the group is $140 for four weeks and pre-registration is required.