Remembering to Breathe

As a mom with more than one child, a full-time job, the person in charge of cleaning, baths, and everything in between, there are days when I feel overwhelmed! I know that I’m not alone in this regard, and every mother everywhere can relate. Of course, I feel extremely blessed to have two beautiful children to take care of, not to mention a husband that can cook, but there are those days when both kids are having dueling meltdowns or just general crankiness (mine and theirs) that I have to remind myself to take a moment and breathe.

I had one of these moments recently when my daughter awoke a few hours after going to bed for the night convinced that she had merely taken a late night nap. She proceeded to take turns between screaming, whining, and crying until well past 2 o’clock in the morning. I felt badly for her, and I tried to console her, but she is extremely willful (thankfully, as this will serve her well in life especially as a female) and it didn’t work. I then tried singing to her, ignoring her for no more than 10 minutes at a time (a trick our Pediatrician thought us), laying her back down in her crib repeatedly, and everything else that I could think of, but it was to no avail. She was awake, and everyone in our house – perhaps everyone on our block - knew about it!

In earnest, I think my sleep deprivation weakened my ability to handle the situation, and as a result, my attempts to remedy were ineffective at best. Finally in the early hours of the morning, I decided to try rocking her back to sleep – oh yes, the rocking chair - how I love thee! The rocking chair worked like a charm, and my daughter and I were finally able to get a few hours of much-needed sleep.

The next morning, and several cups of coffee later, I asked myself why I hadn’t rocked her back to sleep immediately? The rocking chair is my go-to answer for virtually all that ails. It was then that I realized that had I have taken a moment to collect my thoughts and let out a few deep breathes (insert Yoga ums here) then I would have known exactly what to do. Instead, I raced around frantically which made me feel even more frenzied. When I make a concerted effort to stop, center myself, and breathe everything begins to flow anew. This is what Buddhists call letting your water settle.

This is one of the major principles that I wish to teach my children: when things feel stressful, anxious or otherwise you need to take a few minutes for quiet reflection. Doing so will result in better decision making as well as a more productive and peaceful existence.

Embrace Your MOMentum

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