The 5 Dimensions of Mindful Parenting
As you may know, I'm a Social-Emotional Educator by trade and stumbled into becoming a storytime podcast host out of necessity at the beginning of the pandemic.
What you may not know is that I'm also an adult with generational baggage that I'm currently healing and a mom who's cycle-breaking in almost every aspect possible of their parenting.
So imagine my surprise when I realized that becoming more emotionally aware of myself lead to a positive ripple effect to a more emotionally stable household.
The Emotionally Aware Parenting, Mindful Parenting, Conscious Parenting…..these all are based on a parent who realizes their perception of themselves as parents has an important impact on their child's mental health.
Dr Cindy Hovington or Curious Neuron Podcast recently shared a research article that delves into the five factors of Mindful Parenting. The study found that when parents show non-judgmental acceptance of their own functioning, it can lead to lower symptoms of depression and anxiety in their teens. (You can read the study HERE)
Apparently, being able to say ‘Very True" to the following statement, "When things I try to do as a parent do not work out, I can accept them and move on" has an almost startling effect on how my *child’s mental health develops. (*not to mention my own) And to be honest, I currently struggle with being able to answer “very true” with confidence to that question despite considering myself a Mindful, Concious, Emotionally Aware Parent.
But what exactly is Mindful Parenting you may ask? It's about bringing compassion, acceptance, and kindness into our interactions with our children and being fully present during those moments.
There are five different dimensions of mindful parenting,
(1) listening with full attention to the child;
(2) non-judgmental acceptance of the self and the child;
(3) emotional awareness of the self and the child;
(4) self-regulation in the parenting relationship, and
(5) compassion for the self and the child
The child part I have know I've got down pat but as you can see, mindful parenting is about more than just how we interact with our children as parents; it's also how we interact and perceive ourselves.
It's clear that taking care of ourselves as parents is crucial for our child's well-being. This study proves that self-care is anything but selfish or unimportant. It's a reminder that we matter, too, and the more we show how to put ourselves first the fast our children will learn to do the same!