The Magical Side of Conscious Parenting – Spiritual Parenting
By Annalisa Corti
[adrotate group=”11″]There are an infinite number of books written about conscious parenting and attachment parenting. Somehow the two concepts seem different but ultimately they say the same thing: nurture your child by listening, observing, reacting and interacting through your heart filled with love and anchored in the here and now. Conscious / Attachment parenting (CAP), in its varying approaches, rests upon the fundamental principle of respect and gentleness a parent must have towards his or her child from the very first moment of contact.
Some would argue this initial contact occurs within the womb, way before the actual birth. According to Verena Schmidt, as well as other authors such as Michel Odent, Willi Maurer, and others, a baby’s consciousness begins to exist the moment it is conceived. A mother can immediately attune herself to the vibrations of her child, thus always knowing what the baby is feeling or needing. Before the baby has a heart, ears or a functioning physiology, he or she is already consciously active and in alignment with the mother’s consciousness. Yet, once the baby is born, the dynamic unfolding of events over the first few months, can shift the focus from the realm of consciousness – or energy – to the realm of the physical – or sleeping, nursing, pooping, and so on – leaving little time for the parents to stay tuned with the energetic dimension of child rearing.
Rudolf Steiner teaches that children continue to belong to the spiritual dimension much more than to the earthly dimension until the age of 6. A parent practicing CAP therefore not only must implement its practical aspects, but also the spiritual ones.
It would be futile to engage in a religion versus spirituality debate. Ultimately, there is only Love at the center of all religions and spiritual practices. As dissimilar as they may be in cultural backgrounds, origins and rituals, they can all be studied for similarities or for differences. It is entirely up to the scholar. Or the parent. In the hands of CAP parents lies the power to raise strong, responsible, confident, good hearted, conscious adults. Therein lies also the power to open their child’s soul to the Truth of Godliness, Buddha-ness, Energy or whichever term personally resonates most deeply.
After all, it has been scientifically demonstrated that the differences between spiritual adults and non-spiritual adults (usually defined by daily meditative practices) are rather significant. Spiritual adults tend to have lower stress levels (measurable by adrenaline and cortisol levels in the bloodstream); higher levels of anti-aging hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone); higher production of T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and natural killer cells (NK) fostering a stronger immune system; higher natural production of endorphins and serotonin; and much more. The benefits of leading a spiritually enriching life, therefore, are not purely idealistic. There is a strong scientific foundation that should motivate CAP parents to invest time and resources in raising spiritually awake children.
How can spirituality be fostered in babies and young children? There is so much to do already. Parents can do an array of simple yet powerful things that will stir their own awakening, thereby empowering them to help their babies recognize, stay connected, and grow within their already existing spiritual nature.
– Practice: Consider starting a daily practice of any form of prayer, meditation or chanting, if you are not already doing so. As Lee Lozowisk repeats throughout his book Conscious Parenting, you will not be able to teach your child something you cannot do or do not believe in yourself. Practice will expand your own consciousness to all that is spiritual inside you and around you, awakening to the inner and outer presence of the Divine (do not be lost in definitions or labels, go to the Truth). Each individual is but a fragment of the Divine, once connected, there will be no boundaries between yourself and others, just like there aren’t in children.
– Parlance: Keep the Truth in your heart and learn to articulate it. A child is not traumatized by the truth but by the incapacity of a parent to communicate it with Love and Light. Sync with your inner truth and learn to convey it through evocative and loving imagery.
– Passage of Life: Death is a glorious homecoming; this life is but a passage, a transition. Children know this much better than most adults. There is no need to shield them from death. It would be preferable for the parents to undertake their own transformative work about death and dying so that they may live the transition as peacefully as a child.
– Presences: Believe your child when he or she tells you they are seeing an angel or a fairy or a person in the house. Chances are you are stuck in maya whereas they are still vibrating at a higher frequency able to read auras, recognize and interact with any entity around. Encourage them to tell you about the experience while reassuring them if there is any confusion or apprehension. Be mindful not to contaminate their experience with your confusion and worrying. Children have the gift of sight, you are blessed to become part of it through them.
– Paradise of Life Forms: When you walk past a plant, stop to smell it, touch it, talk to it. Tell your baby to do the same and to send the plant love and light so that it may grow strong. Similarly, when you come across a cat, dog, mouse, ant, or any other form of living animal or insect, stop to observe its liveliness, its vibrations, and create a space to exist with such precious life for a moment. Invite the baby to do the same by observing at first, and gradually invite him or her to interact. This may be a little challenging with toddlers whose idea of gentle interaction is squishing and destroying. Repetition, albeit tiring, works wonders. Leading by example is fundamental given that they function on imitation mode until the age of 6 or so.
– Principles: Ultimately your daily life will be an example of selected universal principles, acted upon each day, reminding yourself and your child that you are living a life of awakening. Centeredness, non-violence, responsibility, honesty, love and forgiveness become the cornerstones of your teachings, regardless of the religious nomenclatures.
– Persistence: As your child ventures into the external world, his or her spiritual awareness may be tested and misunderstood. This moment can be a wonderful opportunity to explore the reality of opposites. Each diverse opinion or person is a springing board for further centering and growth.
As Neale Donald Walsh regularly reminds the reader in the Conversations with God trilogy, each one of us is here of his or her own volition with the sole objective to remember who we truly are. Once we manage to remember that we are living fragments of the Divine it becomes our mission to live a life as intended by our soul and not our minds or, even worse, by society. While it is true that there is nothing simple or easy about raising a child consciously and spiritually, it can be an enormous amount of fun. The secret, in fact, to spiritual -parenting and -living is to keep it fun, to stay light-hearted, to tap into your inner child, to reconnect with the magical world of angels and fairies and impossible possibilities.
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