Inner Sustenance For Mothers

Life asks a lot of mothers. This short practice is meant to support you at your weariest and most demanding moments. It can be practiced on the meditation pillow or in the midst of the day. By offering yourself compassion, you gradually shift from reactivity to responsiveness as you meet each new parental challenge. Quoting Thich Nhat Hanh, this meditation encourages you to tend to your own flame in order to nurture your child’s. May this practice offer you strength, serenity, and sustenance.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke

Transcript

My friend, Motherhood asks a lot of us. I'm here to offer a little practice to help replenish yourself that can be done at any moment in the day when you most need it. As mothers, We can feel so easily drained, Like our energy is going in a thousand directions, Our hearts pulled in a thousand directions. So take a moment now to just be with yourself, Exactly as you are. And feel how this mother energy permeates you, How it fills your mind and your heart, How it asks for your energy, How all day long you are offering yourself, Paying attention to changeable details, Distracted, Unmoored. This is normal. This is motherhood. But throughout those moments, Those demanding moments of each day, We can pause for even a breath to come home to ourselves, To move from the front of our hearts that go out to our children, The front of our minds that are filled with thoughts of how to help or fix or amend things. And just with a single breath, Moving into the back plane of your body, The back of your heart, That calm, Quiet place where nothing is disturbed, Even by barking dogs, By challenging moments of motherhood. Moving from the front of our minds where our thoughts are in a swirl of details to attend to, To the back of our minds, That big open space, That big sky that holds all of it. The Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat says that sometimes when the winds are strong, We need to close the door of our hut to keep the flame from going out. So just for a moment, Close the door. Draw a circle around yourself and just be there in the quiet of your own being. Feeling connected to the sun above and the core of the earth below. Knowing this energy that's moving through you, This mother energy is primal and beautiful and the ultimate creative power and that it asks so much of us and also offers so much. You are part of that. So moving into that quiet space, The back of your mind, The back of your heart and feeling the peace that's always there, Trusting it's there even when you can't feel it. Let the barking dog continue. In between each bark, Feel peace. Feel the serenity inside your own quiet hut, Your own flame flowing. You are enough, You are doing enough, You are loving enough. Give your beautiful heart a little pat so that when you open the door of your hut and walk back into your life with all its beautiful challenges, You can remember there that stillness, That presence, The centeredness that's always within you. My friend, You are enough. Your love is mighty in the context of your whole life, In the sea of your whole life. This moment of mothering, Yes, It's challenging, But you are supported. You are not only loving but loved. Let yourself feel that love. Take care of yourself, My friend.

Reviews

Thank you so much- just what I needed on a day where I’m exhausted and still need to keep going for the kids. I will be using this regularly 🙏

This is just what I needed. Thank you so much!♡
Namaste 🙏🏼 🪷

Perfect thank you 🙏