Can meditation make you a better mom?
Meditation. Everyone’s talking about it. You can’t scroll through Instagram without stumbling across some meditation talk. Every guru and self-help luminary is toting the benefits of meditation. But, could meditation make you a better mom? Absolutely! A million times yes!!! (warning, I really like exclamation marks!)
Little disclaimer here: I’m not saying you’re not a great mom! I believe we do not need to meet society’s definition of what a “good mom” is. I feel much of our stress comes from trying to be a “good mom”, and frankly, we don’t need more stress! But I do believe that most of us want to do better for ourselves and our families.
Maybe you want to be more patience with your kids.
Perhaps you dream of being more present (I’m looking at you, iPhone).
Or simply be more fun!
I don’t know what you want, but I know about wanting it. And meditation can seriously help you get there. How? Just check out the benefits of meditation below and tell me that they don’t support being a better, happier human!
First, what is meditation? Many people (including myself at one time) mistakenly think that meditation is sitting in silence and thinking nothing. And because of this, I thought I was bad at it and didn’t like to meditate. But really, it’s an observation of your thoughts. Like this:
*sits down on cute poof and cue meditation music*
Thoughts be like: “Ok, here I go. Time to clear my mind. I need to clear my mind. I want less stress. Man, getting the kids to school today was stressful. How do they not get our morning routine when we have done this FOR THE PAST 159 DAYS!!! Ugg!! Wait. . . refocus. . .breathe. . .Just sit here for 5 minutes. You’re almost done. When I’m done, I want to throw a load of laundry in. To add to the million other loads of laundry I have to put away!! Oh man, there my thoughts go again. Refocus. Refocus. Breathe”.
When you meditate, you separate from your thoughts to just watch them.
Don’t engage the thoughts.
Don’t jump in and run with them.
Just observe them.
Some days, there are many. And here you practice just noticing them and not letting them run away. That is challenging enough! Then there are days your mind settles down, and you may experience a quiet in your mind and a peace to your thoughts. Both are valid, both are great. Just the awareness of what your thoughts naturally do is a powerful tool to take with you through the day. It is helpful to notice what you think about, what you may ruminate on, and topics your mind jumps to when your body is still.
Here are just a few of the benefits of meditations:
Stress relief (What mom couldn’t use that?!?) From running kids around to different activities, trying to be a good partner, getting to work, to feeding the hooligans (Every. Single . Day!) and thinking about their health, happiness, and just doing it all, we could all use a little stress relief.
Better emotional health This includes things like raised levels of happiness and decreased depression. It can also help manage anxiety, which, in my book, is a game changer. I don’t know about you, but I had some massive anxiety when my kids were toddlers. I mean, seriously, they’re little Evil Knievels and it takes so much to keep them alive! When our emotional lives are in order and healthy, we live happier lives. Just sayin’!
Sleep better Oh, mama! I know you would love to sleep like your husband . You know, asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow and wake up from 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep refreshed in the morning. Research has found that meditation can help with sleep. There are even meditations you can put on before bed to help you fall asleep. We all know that the more sleep we get, the calmer and happier we feel. Sleeps makes for a less-grouchy mama!
Clearer mind and greater self-awareness Your mind gets a boost by meditating. And if you are anything like me, pregnancy and motherhood left your brain foggier than the San Francisco skyline. Meditation has helped me with the massive brain fog and left me clearer and more alert (a no-brainer with kids!).
Meditation is a healthy habit that can be done in as little as 5 minutes a day. You can do it anywhere, and it is accessible to everyone. Even my kids meditate. There is no right or wrong way to do it. You can do walking meditations, sitting meditations, or laying down. It can’t get much easier than that!!