I was struggling with my parenting

You see, back when I embarked on my parenting journey, I was working from a parenting style that I had seen, heard, and experienced myself while growing up.

So it was all about discipline, results, shoulds, have to’s and my child was my project, my canvas to the world. I missed connecting with the authentic individual she is and, it lead to conflicts and parenting challenges with my teen

I ran out of patience

Ongoing conflicts and none of the previous strategies ( cajoling, coercing,  praising, disciplining, motivating, lecturing ) were working now. My child was a pro in my game of parenting which I have been playing to get things done and she was feeling her authentic self being neglected.

I thought my parenting was in real trouble

I have heard about meditation, VIPASSANA MEDITATION, for quite some time, but somehow I could not come around to experience it. I couldn’t wrap my head around the process of not speaking helping me with my parenting challenges with teens.

The whole concept of not speaking for ten days was scary for me, as you might have guessed I love talking.

But it was what I needed and was ready for 

As they say, it happened, one beautiful day, I decided to go for it.

My family friends were in shock, and my siblings were betting on me that I will be out of camp in a few hours, not even a day, that much of scattered brain I was.

It was a life-changing experience

The experience of a ten-day camp, being with myself, my thoughts, and just learning tools of focusing on my breath and sensations, opened doors of a new life for me.

I realized that in my professional relationships, I was able to see things objectively and then respond, but was struggling with personal relationships especially parenting. With meditation experience, I gained more clarity in my thoughts, learned skills of being in the moment, and got an understanding of attachment with detachment 

It was like going to a Bootcamp to align your mind.

But like any other exercise, it has to be consistent to see results. It is like the building of mindfulness muscles and uses that muscle power during conflicts.

I am an avid meditator and have adopted various ways of incorporating it in my day-to-day life besides just sitting in a lotus position alone.

Then there was no looking back

I wanted to use meditation tools and learned to deconstruct my thoughts when I feel triggered and need to find some other solution. I incorporated it with my learnings of counseling psychology, philosophy, Non-violent communication, and conscious parenting style.  All our emotions, thoughts, and body sensations are interconnected, and as I learned during meditation, observing it with equanimity was the solution.

You can do the same

If 10 days of meditation sounds scary to you, you can start with baby steps like journaling. Journaling is like meditation in writing, and deconstructing thoughts is like narrating a new story to shape your reality. I explored journaling, at the start of the day and the end of the day, and found it very useful in analyzing my thoughts and deconstructing my triggers.

Sometimes I do take up journaling in the middle of the day.I enjoy journaling like a conversation with my inner critic and me holding a mirror of mindfulness, to live to my authentic self.

With journaling, I was able to prune the thought processes, belief systems to learn the art of deconstruction.

But what about on-the-spot response to the trigger, well my focus on breathing (mindfulness muscle )came in handy there.

So whenever I am anxious, I force myself to focus on my breath and in a few seconds, my brain leads to deconstructing that anxiety ( a muscle-building during and after vipassana camp)

I guarantee you’ll resolve your parenting challenges with your teens

That’s why I invite you to explore possibilities in our free discovery session

In fact, I’m so confident that, our counseling sessions, will move the needle, will help you deeply connect with your teenager, and give you the parenting style which brings out the best in you as well as your teenagers.