 Along
with taking prenatal vitamins, preparing the nursery,
and reading up on child development, try some
of the following to prepare for the arrival of
your baby:
*Cultivate time alone to dream, plan, and tune
into the rhythm of a new life within you.
The meditative practices included in this book’s
CD, and the journaling exercises I’ve included
can help. Allow your spiritual path to deepen.
Your body’s changes urge you to take a break
from your normal routine and offer a powerful
opportunity to come into alignment with spirit.
*As you prepare to mother, open your heart to
receive more love from your world--your partner,
parents, friends, pets, and coworkers. Think
of absorbing all this nourishing energy and wrapping
it around you and your baby as a cocoon of warm,
gentle light.
One of the joys of pregnancy is all the positive
remarks friends and strangers alike feel inclined
to share with you. It’s as if the
world is conspiring to bolster you with love –
open your heart and take it in – let it
strengthen and inspire you.
*Perfection is impossible for anyone but particularly
for a parent. Letting go takes on a whole
new meaning from here on out. Begin to practice
releasing unrealistic expectations of yourself.
You are growing a new life -- a monumental job--
so go easy on yourself. There will be no
grade at the end of these nine months, no promotion,
no gold star. Instead there will be a new
life that you’ve co-created, a miracle that
you’ve been privileged to harbor.
*Become aware of your vast inner treasures and
how you might express them through family life,
moment by moment. Practice bringing yourself fully
to ordinary activities; lathering your growing
tummy with lotion, setting the table for a healthy
dinner, or selecting nourishing music for the
drive to work. The creative spiritual call
of mothering is “Be here… be here
now…” and eventually, “Be here,
see me, honor me, join me in this moment, Mom!”
*Mothering is a rich and creative activity.
Fostering and nourishing your child’s spirit
is as creative an endeavor as writing a novel
or painting a masterpiece. Motherhood as
a creative expression lies before you. Opportunities
to explore this creativity will present themselves
each day. You can put the toddler in front of
a television--or an easel. You can give
the baby a bath with your hands while your mind
sorts through the data needed for an upcoming
talk-- or you can bring yourself fully to the
smell of lavender- scented suds, the sound of
gleeful squeals, the vision of sunlight shooting
in to illuminate sweet baby skin. Tap into
your creative well and free your spirit as practice
for the creative mothering possibilities ahead.
*Committing to parenting decisions and choices
can be difficult. Often, we search for an
expert to tell us how to complete this “project”
perfectly when the answers lie within. Practice
following your intuition during pregnancy: what
would taste good, should I rest now, how does
my body want to stretch? If you hone your inner
cues now, this intuitive parenting will feel more
natural after your baby is born.
*Begin to create a life rich with personal spiritual
meaning. Don’t wait to find just the
right church or temple that moves you. Many
parents ask me, “Should we baptize, should
we circumcise, should we go to services each week,
how can we choose between our two religions?”
I can’t answer these questions for you but
I can tell you that courageously taking action
to articulate and claim your family’s unique
set of spiritual beliefs paves the way to the
progressive unfolding of a shared sacred identity.
Every family needs a spiritual grounding—every
day of the week. Rituals, traditions, imagination,
wonder, and authentic listening, helps your child
feel a sense of belonging to something grand and
good and always available.
*Release the notion that your child will fulfill
your every expectation and instead think of how
you might fill your own expectations as a mother. |
