Meditation For Parents – Finding Time To Recharge and Rebalance

Becoming a parent is an exciting, yet nerve-wracking experience. You no longer have just yourself to think about, but a little one too. Quite quickly your life becomes all-consumed by this new little person, and you may find that your own needs end up being neglected.

With all the pleasures of bringing up a young family, inevitably there will be times when it can be extremely stressful, demanding and exhausting. It is becoming increasingly evident that the world now almost accepts feelings of exhaustion, being overwhelmed and feeling stressed out as relatively normal. But it is not and no longer needs to continue. It is totally possible to experience life and manage family life from a much calmer, rational and relaxed state of consciousness.

Vedic meditation is recognised as the most successful and easiest form of meditation to learn and practice. Not only does learning the technique benefit you as a parent, but it has a knock-on effect for the rest of the family, children are very sensitive and pick up on how their parents are feeling.

Top 5 reasons every parent should consider learning Vedic Meditation:

1. The ultimate power nap

Practising Vedic meditation can help claw back some of the 'sleep debt' you owe yourself. In this technique we access a deep metabolic rate of rest, around 3-5 times deeper than the deepest stage of sleep. It helps lengthen your deep sleep cycles at night and increases sleep efficiency.

2. Consider whether you can do that school run on an empty tank

As a parent it is natural to give away much more of yourself until your physical and emotional tank is on empty. We generally become pretty good at 'being' stressed and living on a half-empty tank, but this usually indicates chronic states of stress. The analogy of placing the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others rings very true, once you address your own needs, you can bring your best self to the aid of others.

3. It's deceptively simple and easy to do

Vedic meditation is a self-sufficient technique you can take with you and do anywhere, in a chair, in bed, on a sofa, a car (if you're not driving), or on the floor with your back supported. Close your eyes, gently think of your personal mantra, and off you go. We don't push thoughts out; we let them flow in and out and the mantra does the work.

4. It will bring you back into balance

Meditation helps produce the 'natural bliss' chemistry in the body (anandamide, serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine) and reduces stress chemistry (adrenaline, cortisol and lactic acid). The calm feeling stays with you after meditating and positively affects how you interact with loved ones. Meditation can also be helpful for those affected by postpartum depression (discuss with your doctor first), and there is evidence it can help bring on the production of breast milk.

5. You'll wonder how you managed without it

"But I just don't think I have enough time in my day to meditate" usually means you don't have enough time to look after yourself. Once you get into a regular practice you become more productive, your mental clarity improves, and there's less scrolling on Instagram or Facebook.

Practical Meditation Locations

• Sitting in bed with a child/baby draped across the lap
• In a parked car before school pick-up, meetings, events
• In a parked car with kids asleep in the back seat
• On public transport, taxis or planes
• On the sofa after putting the kids to bed but BEFORE doing the dishes
• On the sofa after putting the kids to sleep but BEFORE scrolling on Instagram
• On the sofa with kids safely playing on the floor or next door
• While breastfeeding
• At a desk during a break
• A coffee shop
• On a park bench
• In bed before the kids wake up
• In a car while the partner is driving and children are in the back seat
• Next to the cot/bed while waiting for baby/child to fall asleep

(This article was written for www.pureearthcollection.com by Sam Wysock-Wright.)