Well, my problem lies in my resistance to the mothering moments that irritate, anger, and frustrate me (with raising twin 3 year olds and a 4 year old, these are pretty frequent). Classic example, when my daughter starts to throw a tantrum, my resistance shows up as anger, and it makes this moment persist that much longer. What I resist always persists.
The antidote to resistance is acceptance. The biggest part of accepting is just letting go. When we let go of our resistance to the stressful mothering moments, these moments lose their power, and we gain the power in return.
YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD THE POWER
“Her favorite moments were those when she let go of all expectations and worries and just simply celebrated the very moment she was living.”
The great news is if you want to do better, if you want to be better, if you want to have more control over your negative emotional reactions to the moments in mothering that that seem totally unacceptable, you can.You really, truly can. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, you’ve always had the power inside of you. All you gotta do is access it.
If accessing your power in times of chaos is your will, then the way is through the present moment.
This concept of finding our power in the present moment is the heart, the essence, the soul of mindful mothering!! Present moment awareness is so important because when we accept the “now,” in whatever form it takes, we access our power of responding (not reacting) in loving ways.
THE WAY
Your way into the present moment is always through your breath. Yep. It's that simple. The next time a mommy moment challenges your resolve in maintaining your composure, try this:
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BREATHE IN...BREATHE OUT....RELEASE...RESPOND.
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*The key to this working is the RELEASE part. You need to release any negative emotion you feel swelling inside of you. Sometimes during my "release," I visualize hugging this emotion (anger, for instance) and compassionatly letting it go. Sounds kinda kooky, I know. But it really works!