If you're here,
It likely means you've just had one of those days,
Or maybe you're worried you're about to have another one.
You're craving just a few moments to come back to yourself,
To regulate,
To breathe,
To remember that you,
Too,
Deserve presence,
Compassion,
And care.
So this is your space to pause,
To reconnect with your breath,
Your body,
And your heart.
So you can show up for your child in the way you want to,
Not from the chaos,
But from the grounded,
Calm inside of you.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat,
Or even stand where you are.
Let your eyes close or soften,
And begin by simply arriving here,
Letting the outside world fall away for just a moment.
Take a slow breath in through your nose,
Drawing it up through the belly and the chest,
And a long,
Open mouth sigh out.
Again,
In through the nose,
And sigh it out.
Take a slow breath in through your nose,
Drawing it up through the belly and the chest,
And a long,
Open mouth sigh out.
Again,
In through the nose,
And sigh it out,
And let it go.
Now inhale for four,
Hold for four,
And exhale for six.
I'll lead the way.
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale slowly,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Again,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Do this on your own one more time,
Inhale,
Exhale.
Let your breath return to a natural rhythm,
And let your body receive the benefits of these slow,
Conscious breaths.
Notice how you feel.
Parenting asks more of us than almost anything else.
Patience when we're tired,
Grace when we're triggered,
Presence when we feel pulled in a thousand directions.
It can be beautiful and brutal,
Sacred and stretching,
All in the same breath.
This moment is your full permission to pause,
To remember that being a present parent doesn't mean being a perfect one.
It means learning how to come home to yourself again and again,
Especially when it's hard.
And now gently bring a hand to your heart or belly or both,
Wherever you feel most comforted.
Feel your own presence,
Feel the warmth of your own touch,
And let this moment become a turning point.
You don't need to rewind or redo anything that happened before this moment.
You just need to return to you.
You are doing the best that you can in every moment.
And from here,
If it feels helpful,
Silently say to yourself,
I'm allowed to pause,
I'm allowed to reset,
I'm doing the best I can,
Or I want to pause,
I need to reset,
I'm doing the best I can,
Because you have needs too.
You can whisper these words to your inner child,
To the one who never learned how to regulate during chaos.
Let them hear,
I'm safe now,
I'm doing this differently.
And let your breath soften you with grace.
Let it remind you,
You don't need to carry the weight of one hard moment.
You're allowed to repair,
To return,
To reroute in love and your own energy,
Your own being,
Your own self.
So how do you want to move forward from here?
Take a moment to envision how you leave this meditation and move forward into the day.
Take one more deep,
Nourishing breath in,
And hold,
And exhale any tension,
Shame,
Or pressure you may be holding,
Because we are in the shift right now.
So let it drop,
Let it melt,
You're not alone,
You're doing better than you think,
And the very fact that you're here,
It says so much about your heart.
So when you're ready,
You can open your eyes or lift your gaze,
Let the next moment meet a more grounded,
Connected version of you.
You've got this.
