Raising Good Humans

Mindfulness quiets ill-considered reactivity.

It’s almost time to take your child to school. You go up to his room to see what is keeping him, and he yells, “I don’t want to go to school today!” Do you feel anxiety well up just thinking about this scenario? Stress can trigger an innate fight-or-flight response, which cuts off access to your rational, upper brain. As a result, you snap and start yelling at your child. Later, you feel guilty, ashamed and distraught over your behavior.

Fortunately, a mindfulness practice can help you respond differently. Mindfulness – nonjudgmental, deliberate attention to the present moment – quiets reactivity. Mindfulness meditation can reduce anxiety and depression, increase positive emotions and bring about a sense of peace. Thus, developing a mindfulness meditation practice is the starting place for becoming less reactive – and remaining calm in exasperating parenting situations.

A mind that preoccupies itself with planning and to-do lists may miss the concerns of the present moment.

As you spend time with your children, your mind may wander to the question of...