Each Day Offers Renewal; Mimi Doe Newsletter

Spiritual Parenting Thought for the Month (SM)

Brought to you by Mimi Doe

April, 2007

V9 #4

EACH DAY OFFERS RENEWAL

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This newsletter is my gift to you in the hopes of empowering children and parents everywhere live more joyful, connected lives.

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EACH DAY OFFERS RENEWAL

- Welcome From Mimi

- Ways to Make Each Day a New Beginning

- Be Here Now

- Up Until Now

- Parent's Visualization

- What's New

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Greetings,

I hope this April newsletter finds you and your family healthy and happy as spring saunters into your days. Are you ready to shake out any winter weariness and dive into your life refreshed and more alive? One 6 year old had wise words when she said, "In the morning I feel like I was just made all over again."

How do your typical mornings begin? The launch into our days, when we approach it mindfully, can have a powerful impact. If you would like your morning to vibrate on a more peaceful note, look for how you might shift your routine. If it means making lunches and lying out children’s school clothes the night before, do so. Try getting up 15 minutes earlier than you usually do. Play music and light some candles rather than turning on the bright kitchen lights and flipping on the television news. Encourage your children to eat their breakfast slowly, and to bring themselves gradually into the new day.

It's amazing how, with a little thought, a normally chaotic morning with everyone rushing out the door, can become a calm, soothing experience. Try bringing your awareness to each task tomorrow morning, approaching the activities with a relaxed body, mind, and spirit. Your child will catch your pace and make it her own. She will begin her new day a bit more centered and a lot more relaxed.

Warmest wishes for a calm, connected springtime full to the brim with more of everything you love!

Mimi

If you live in the Manhattan area, come visit me at The Children’s Museum on April 19th – details under What’s New.
Check out the www.SpiritualParenting.com site for lots of new articles under a new section called Guidance & Clarity

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Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe — a moment that never was before and never will be again.

--- Pablo Casals

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WAYS TO MAKE EACH DAY A NEW BEGINNING

To follow are some additional ideas for making each day a new beginning. Remember, this is just a buffet of offerings not another thing to add to your “to do” list:

- Bring your child's attention to the day in a fun way. Open his creative flow, his possibility thinking and ignite the wonder in both of your lives. Ask him, if he were a horse, what would he do today? What if he were president? What law might he change? Of, if she had magical power, how might today turn out?

- Snuggle up close to your child, and whisper into her ear that God's love surrounds her the whole day through. Then, wave your arms around her, spritzing water, and ask if she can feel the love!

- After breakfast and before beginning the daily routine, ask your child to draw a picture of what the morning looked like to her as she first saw it. Then ask if it has changed. Most of us are spiritually open during that short time between wakefulness and sleep - it's a dreamy kind of feeling. This is a wonderful time to say our affirmations, visualize scenarios, talk with God, surround ourselves with light, and meditate. One 7-year-old we know writes magnificent poetry before getting out of bed: "First thing in the morning I usually write poetry. It just seems to come to me when I first wake up."

- Ask your school-age children to think about their friends and teachers as they are on their way to school. What comes into their minds to say that might make that person's day a bit better? Starting the day thinking of how we might help others is a wonderful way to begin.

- Ask your children what they like to do first thing each morning. This 8-year-old came up with his own beautiful ritual: "I make a blessing each morning to the first plant or animal I see outside my window. It's the way I start each day."

- Commit to yourself to begin living today in such a way that you needn't experience regret about a new situation. What one thing do you need to do differently to bring that about? Ask for human and divine help in making this change.

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I join my hands in thanks

for the many wonders of life;

for having twenty-four brand-new hours before me.

---Thich Nhat Hanh

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BE HERE NOW

More than 30 years ago, Ram Dass coined this simple phrase that contains a key to seeing each day, each moment, as a new beginning.

Only the present moment exist. We remember the past and imagine the future; we experience only Now. Each moment is the Now, and it is the only moment that is important. Each moment is a new beginning in itself, and focusing our attention on the present brings us peace. From this place of peace, we can choose to look at life differently - creating a do-over for ourselves.

Florence Scovel Shinn, author of "The Game of Life and How to Play It," writes: "Thy will be done this day. Today is a day of completion; I give thanks for this perfect day, miracle shall follow miracle and wonders shall never cease." She reminds us that our thoughts govern our experiences each day. In the present moment, we can decide what kind of day we want to have. As we allow ourselves to notice the sun pouring in through the kitchen window or the spring in our 16-year-old's step, we can decide to lay down any loads - of resentment, fear, anger, sadness, or self-pity - that we might be carrying.

This capacity is a great resource for all of us, regardless of our age. Parents and kids alike can center themselves in the present moment, letting go of the history that a particular event symbolizes and fear about the future that it can arouse. Help your child trust in her power to live in the moment without the old baggage of yesterday.

As a culture, we gauge success by the ability to multitask, but when we're mindful, we do one thing at a time. Vietnamese Buddhist monk and author Thich Nhat Hanh gives the example of washing dishes. We can wash dishes in order to have clean dishes. We can also wash dishes to wash dishes: enjoying the hot water on our hands and the smell of the soap, the smooth surface of the dish and the clarity of clean glass. That’s why I treat myself to wonderful, organic, lavender scented dish soap. My kitchen sink is my altar of sorts, and pausing to be there fully when I bring myself to the task of dish washing has become a spiritual centering. Who knew washing dishes could be good?

I recently had a conversation with a woman who thought the idea of meditation was far-fetched, a kind of Eastern occultism. "I don't need that kind of silliness," she said. "If I get upset, I find that doing the dishes seems to get everything all straightened out."

Thich Nhat Hanh gives another idea: eating a tangerine. We center on immediate experience and breathe more easily by paying attention to the heft and smell of the unpeeled fruit, to the burst of aroma when the skin is broken and the gentle tearing that parts peel from flesh. Eating tangerine sections one by one, we notice their temperature, texture, and sweetness, and find ourselves more relaxed and ready to see the world anew when the pleasure of eating has ended.

Chopping wood, doing dishes, eating a tangerine, applying lip gloss, or taking a thorn out of our toe - it doesn't matter what the experience is. In fact, at any given moment, we can move fully into the present by simply noticing what it contains. It’s a relief, really, from the constant dance of “What do I have to do?” “How do I not measure up?” “What mistakes did I make?” “Who is doing it better than me?”

A teen in geometry class can notice the feel of pencil on paper, the smell of the chalkboard, the sound of pages turning, the texture in a sweater on the person sitting in front of her. A parent who's tempted to drag past experiences onto the interpretation of a current situation can notice his or her surroundings with the same careful attention, and gain some leverage over a reaction that may be brewing.

Moving into the present moment lessens the hold of yesterday's bleak feelings. Disappointment, grief, hurt, and frustration can't compete with the power of the present. They don't necessarily disappear, but we experience a reprieve from their intensity. Moving into the present moment also balances the high-flying wings of excitement, jubilation, and self-congratulations; it reminds us that these, too, are transitory experiences.

When children and teenagers are able to practice shifting into the now and experience the present, it will lessen the intense "What do they think of me?" thinking that is such a huge rock in their consciousness.

In the present moment, we have the power to create. Trust this power in yourself, and encourage your child to do the same. You can begin again right now, right where you are.

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Open my eyes,
O God,
to the marvels that surround me.
Show me the wonder
of each breath I take,
of my every
thought,
word
and movement.
— Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

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UP UNTIL NOW

I learned a very useful phrase several years ago. It helps create possibility instead of a future determined by past experiences: Up Until Now.

These words fit into sentences that could sound like these: "I've always been disappointed by my son's choices." "I'm easily frustrated by my kid's actions." "I work so hard, my life is a whirl, I don't give my daughter the time I should."

When the substitution is made, they turn into: "Up until now, my son has made some irresponsible choices." "Up until now, I've been an impatient parent." "Up until now, I haven't had time to do one-on-one activities with my daughter."

This is more than just semantics. By inserting these 3 words into how we speak and think, we acknowledge the truth that we can choose a new way of seeing and living at any time. The present moment marks the transition between what has been and what can be.

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PARENT VISUALIZATION

In the evening, visualize how you would like tomorrow to turn out. What kind of parent do you want to be? Picture yourself with energy and patience and fully in tune with God. Before your child goes to sleep, encourage her to say out loud, write down, or picture in her mind what her tomorrow will look like. Remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The ancestor to every action is a thought." You live the life you imagine you are living. Take the time to create first in your mind an image of your highest and best scenario; then be prepared to live it.

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~*~WHAT'S NEW~*~

Rice Krispies® cereal invites you to participate in :

Operation Spark to learn creative ways for moms and kids to connect

When:

Thursday, April 19

From 1 - 2:30 p.m.

Where:

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan

The Tisch Building

212 West 83rd Street

New York, NY

Kids and imaginary

friends welcome.

Creative Demonstration

R.S.V.P. by April 11 to Dana Hanzlik at 412-456-3874 or Kristan Kohley at 412-456-3736

Panel Includes:

Mimi Doe, Parenting Expert and Award-Winning Author

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Some of our favorite resources for nurturing YOUR own spirits include:

Make ALL your dreams come true with the Dream Manifesto!

For YEARS I have been creating vision boards or treasure maps using poster boards and images of what

I would like to manifest in my life...Literally for about 24 years...

Up until now...

Now, since I'm on my computer so much of the time...I've installed this easy to use software, literally I had it up and running in less than 5 minutes, and my images are scheduled to appear with sound...that I've created...every hour...reminding me of what I wish to focus upon...

It's crazy cool!

Visit our New Soulful Baby Boutique

Safe, natural, beautiful products for your baby!

Dimple Dolls

These soft, natural, safe little babies are cozy in their blankets and baskets. I love these for all kids from babies to teens. No kidding, tuck one in the pocket of even the most sophisticated 16 year old girl and watch her melt.

Send Your Nurturing Products for Review to:

SpiritualParenting.com
c/o Mimi Doe
109 Baker Ave.
Concord, MA 01742

We are happy to send your product to our SpiritualParenting team and designated mom experts for their review.

SOULFUL MOVIES

If you're as tired of the commercial movies available as I am you'll be thrilled to hear of a new alternative: Spiritual Cinema Circle.

Chicken Soup for the Soul author Jack Canfield says:"It's not often you can combine entertainment with personal growth but that is exactly what The Spiritual Cinema Circle offers. These engaging films provide important messages about life, love and the world we live in"

Each month you will receive a DVD with 3-5 high quality spiritual film selections to keep. You can watch these films with your children or after they are safely tucked in bed. Spiritual Cinema examines who we are and why we are here, and illuminates the human condition through stories and images that inspire us to reach our best human potential. For more information and to sign up, click on the little pool of water above.

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Spiritual Parenting Thought for the Month (SM) is written and produced by Mimi Doe and Karen Adolphson. If you have any stories to share, questions or comments, please send them to: Editor@SpiritualParenting.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Any submission of tips, stories, and other content to Spiritual Parenting Thought for the Month and SpiritualParenting.com, whether by email, mail, or posted to our website, becomes the property of Spiritual Parenting. Please see our terms of use and privacy policy for more details at: http://www.SpiritualParenting.com.

Mimi Doe, Author of:
"Nurturing Your Teenager's Soul"
"Busy But Balanced"
"10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting"
"Drawing Angels Near"
PO Box 157 Concord MA 01742
http://www.SpiritualParenting.com