Mindful Mama | Inspiration To Thrive Not Just Survive

Carla Naumburg joins me again for their monthly segment on the Mindful Mama podcast. We talk about a wonderful article, Give Kids Your Undivided Attention - Or No Attention At All by Catherine Newman. This author never uses the word "mindfulness" yet gives us lessons like a modern-day buddha. We discuss the idea of fully paying attention, then fully ignoring our children and how we can all benefit from this. We talk about the power of immersive play for children, and get real about how realistic this is. Other discussion points: Carla has no problem with moms being on their smart phones at the playground. Parenting advice from Jack Black, "Don't give a happy child ice cream." And, as always, we discuss our personal parenting wins and fails. Find out why I think I deserve a parenting badge of honor! Carla and I will leading a weekend retreat at the Copper Beech Institute at the end of this month - check out the Mindful Mothering Retreat here. Moms need a break too. Head over to this weekend retreat for rest an

Picture yourself in this scenario: it’s early Spring. You are walking to the park with your child on one of those warm days that feels like a gift. Winter jackets home on their hooks, you feel the fresh breeze on your arms. Now take the same setting, but this time you are pre-occupied with your thoughts... Your daughter tugs at your hand to go look at a worm. No, you say, you have to get going. You take your phone out of your pocket for a quick check to see if there have been any incoming emails since your walk began. You are barely aware of your surroundings, caught up in your ruminating thoughts. Your relationship with your child has narrowed down to getting her from here to there, another to-do. The differences in these two scenarios are clear even though these situations might look alike to the casual observer. We can see from these scenarios and our own lives that rumination and getting lost in anxieties take us away from what’s real in the here and the now. Happily, we have clear ways to become more pre

Now that I’ve taken the jogging stroller around the block a few times, I realize that the two things that I really did need, the two things that mattered most... weren’t even on my radar. What are the two things parents really need? Parents need help when we have conflict. When there’s a conflict, a few things happen: our stress response kicks in and we become reactive, then we often communicate from old patterns (i.e. your own parent’s voice comes out of your mouth). We can break it down into two problems: The stress response Unskillful communication We come into the most trouble in our parenting when we are stressed, so it’s important to understand the stress response. There are biological and evolutionary reasons why we “lose it.” “Losing it” refers to those fast, automatic reactions to a perceived threat which can be triggered in stressful interactions with our child. This literally cuts off access the rational, thoughtful part of our brain. The first and most fundamental thing we need as parents (for our

Get a taste of what the Mindful Parenting course is like by listening to the actual first lesson of the course. Go check out the Mindful Parenting course now! “I have read lots of books in the past but the program was more helpful; having lesson plans, something new to work on every week, listening to the audio and realizing we all have similar experiences, using the meditation practices and minimal yoga practice spontaneously. It's a wonderful and valuable experience." - Sapna Mindful Parenting will give you all the tools you need to be the calm, loving and compassionate parent you were born to be. You’ll finally be able to replace those harmful legacies passed down in your family through generations with authentic and mindful parenting that comes from your own heart. I’ll show you how to obtain permanent peace in your home through loving communication skills, which leads to more cooperative and happy children. You’ll learn how to solve even the most stressful conflicts mindfully, and create strong and healt

This story illustrates the importance of play more than most: In studies of sociopaths stuck in prison with life sentences, NONE of them had healthy play histories. Play and creativity is essential for children's development, but is threatened by our too-busy, achievement oriented lifestyle. Are your kids getting enough of the right kind of play? Avital, The Parenting Junkie, and Hunter riff about the problems they have with our current educational system and why they made the choices they did. Learn Hunter's big beef with the conventional education system and what it has to do with intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation. Find out why you may not need as much as you think and why you may need to be LESS involved than you think.  Avital has a bonus in the comprehensive Mindful Parenting course. What is it? Working with thousands of women over the years, Hunter has put all of that learning into a comprehensive 10-week course. Mindful Parenting will give you all the tools you need to be the calm, loving and compassi

Recently my 9-year old daughter has been watching a certain t.v. show and coming back with some pretty snarky retorts. It's been driving me bananas! What do you you do about a 'teen' attitude in your child? How do you deal with media that may not be sending the kind of message you want? Carla Naumburg, author of Parenting In the Present Moment, and Hunter Clarke-Fields, Mindfulness Mama Mentor hash it out in today's episode. This is the first in a monthly installment of Carla and Hunter's back and forth.  Mentioned in this episode: Louis C. K. talking about cell phones. This is brilliant and you should not miss this.  In a few days the 10-Day Mindful Mama Virtual Retreat begins! This free, online event is specifically for moms who want to be less irritable with their kids. It will help you begin your own mindfulness practice in the company of hundreds of other mamas. And Carla is in it too! And the Mindful Parenting Course is coming! Want in? Click here to get on the wait list.  Thank you so much for listenin