How to See the Light in Parenting — A Slower Kind of Life

This post is part of a series on Essential Skills for New Parents: How yoga practices can help you parent with peace and presence.

It is easy to see the pure light in little babies when they are so snuggly and warm and have that innocent energy about them. It is even hard to get mad at them when they wake you up at 2am because they are so small, helpless and usually cute: that helps. Then they start moving around, getting into things that you don’t want them to, throwing the baby food you made on the floor, refusing to get dressed, and making a lot more of a mess. Suddenly they are not as sweet and innocent all the time. Their curiosity and temperament may wear us down and cause us to see them differently. Suddenly, they are naughty, disobedient, or difficult. As they grow and their ability to move their own bodies and express their own views expands, it gets harder to experience that pure innocent energy.

In the discipline of Satki Yoga, there is a practice of seeing all things as manifestations of divine energy. It is referred to as Seeing the Light in All Things. Seeing the Light in all things is the practice of loving everything as it is, and judging nothing as wrong or bad. It is choosing to see everything in its own course of evolution.

Essentially, to see the light in all things, we must drop all judgement. Judgement blocks the light. Become aware of when you are caught in negative judgements or biases. When you free yourself of judgement, you will see the light in all things.

This is a particularly useful practice to apply to parenting. This practice will allow you to stay focused on the pure evolving being that your child is and not on his or her unwanted, tiring, or negative behaviours. Judgement creates a negative lens over your view of yourself and your child. Choosing to see the light instead will help you maintain a positive view of your child rather than go down the road of seeing them as troublesome or problematic. This ultimately will help you to enjoy parenting more rather than seeing it as a battle. It keeps your nervous system out of fight or flight which will allow you to be more peaceful, calm and respond skillfully.

How to do it

· Become aware of your perception including any dislikes, aversions, judgements, interpretations, and biases.

· Drop all judgment

· Accept things and people as they are

· Recognize that everything has its own course of evolution

· Focus on what you do want to experience: love, harmony, joy, peace.

In the next post, I will share how to use the Ayurvedic practice of Dinacharya to create your own personal routine of self-care.

This post is part of a Series:

Essential Skills for New Parents: How yoga practices can help you parent with peace and presence.

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I am working on a book on the same topic to compile all the practices with further information and make it available as an easy reference for new and expecting parents. Please subscribe to my newsletter in the blue box below if you want to be sure to get the book.

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