Welcome,
And thank you for joining me on this meditation today to nurture yourself along your parenting journey.
Research shows that our beliefs shape our actions and that we can change our beliefs through awareness and repetition.
This guided meditation will help you gain awareness of your parenting beliefs and explore whether they're in alignment with your parenting goals and desires.
Take a moment to settle into a comfortable position,
Sitting or lying down,
And gently allow your eyes to close.
Just gently allow them to close.
With a deep belly breath,
Thank yourself for coming here today.
With an audible exhale through your mouth,
Release any stress or tension in your jaw,
Dropping your tongue from the roof of your mouth.
With another deep belly breath,
Acknowledge to yourself that being here shows that you're a caring parent who wants to do as well as you can.
And with an audible exhale,
Release any stress or tension in your shoulders.
With another deep belly breath,
Acknowledge that perfection does not exist and chasing it only leaves us falling short.
As you exhale,
Release any stress or tension in your back.
Take another deep belly breath,
Acknowledging that each day and in each moment,
We can only do the best that we can.
Sometimes we may not live up to our own expectations and that's okay.
With an audible exhale,
Release any tension in your arms or hands.
Release any tight fists.
With another deep belly breath,
Acknowledge that we can strive to be better,
But we must give ourselves and those around us grace when we fall short.
And with your exhale,
Release any stress or tension or tight feelings in your legs.
Now,
Gently place your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your belly.
As you begin to take another deep belly breath,
Turn your attention to your heart.
Feel each beat as you breathe in and out.
As you inhale,
Ask your heart what it is feeling as you think about your parenting journey.
As you exhale,
Listen to your heart's response.
Continue to breathe and feel and listen to your heart.
Perhaps your heart is telling you that it has held in some anger or resentment or guilt or shame or feelings of perfectionism.
Continuing to breathe in and out,
Allow yourself to feel these feelings deep in your heart.
And continue to breathe.
On your next inhale,
Imagine you're giving yourself a big hug and tell your heart it's okay to feel these feelings.
And now it's time to let them go.
Turning your attention to the hand on your belly,
As you inhale,
Feel your belly rising.
And as you exhale,
Feel your belly drop.
Release perfectionism.
Take a deep inhale through your nose and feel your belly rise.
And as you exhale,
Feel your belly fall and release anger.
Take a deep inhale through your nose and feel your belly rise.
And as you exhale,
Release resentment.
Take a deep inhalation through your nose and feel your belly rise.
And as you exhale,
Release expectations.
Take another deep breath and ask your heart,
What is it it wants in your parenting journey?
As you exhale,
Listen to its response.
Perhaps your heart is telling you it wants to have more joy.
Perhaps it wants to feel free of the beliefs that limit your ability to parent in the way that you want to.
As you continue to breathe,
Listen to what your heart tells you about your journey.
With your next inhale,
Feeling your hand on your heart,
You can say out loud or in your mind to your heart,
I am loved and I am enough.
Continue taking deep belly breaths,
Releasing tension and limiting beliefs with each out breath.
Perhaps you have expectations of yourself about how you should parent,
Or expectations of your partner about how they should parent,
Or expectations of your children about how they should behave.
Just remember that the only thing you can control is yourself.
And that's why you're here today.
Each time you come back to this meditation,
You are giving yourself the short break that it needs to be able to regulate.
And you are rewiring your brain to be able to regulate more easily each day.
Now slowly and gently,
Bringing awareness back to the present moment.
Bring gentle movement into your fingers or your toes.
Continuing to breathe,
Slowly and gently and in your time,
Allow your eyes to gently blink open.
Thank you for taking time today to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family.
Thank you for watching.
