Why Mindful Parenting Works
At our multicultural camp program, we focus a lot on intentionality in our program and our interactions. We also have a lot of intentional parents who see our camp as a great extension for the growth and development they seek for their children.
Here’s a good piece about mindful parenting, and how mindfulness can help reduce stress in your household or classroom (or camp). Click here for a two-minute video containing an overview of a technique used by social psychologist Christine Carter that she uses to bring more mindful awareness to everyday parenting situations.
For those of us who like synopses: the gist of the video is that, to practice mindful parenting, we want to have an attentive awareness of what we might be feeling as parents. When something happens in our families that might otherwise spur a reaction of say, wanting to tear our hair out (especially problematic for those of us with dreadlocks), we should instead be non-judgemental, and pause and plan before responding to the stimulus. That can get us into the habit of mindfulness, which in turn can help reduce the amount of situations that might lead to that stress in the first place.
A tip that works for her is to use sticky notes on which you can write the tips: “notice,” “label,” “accept,” and “breathe.”
Happy mindful and intentional parenting!