by Gessell | Apr 27, 2019 | Motherhood, Wellness
Meditation for Moms: 3 simple tips that have helped me reduce stress as a busy mom! Use these techniques even on your busiest days!
Meditation for Moms is Important
Motherhood is beautiful, and motherhood is sometimes very very hard.
I think we’ve all had those moments in our mothering journeys where we have realized that the only thing you can really control is your thoughts, and the only thing left to do is surrender to the moment.
Those beautiful, amazing little souls that you somehow created, and whom you love with the depth and breath of your soul and beyond, somehow-just somehow- have a way of managing to push you to the furthest edge possible.
An edge that, before motherhood, you didn’t even know existed.
The early years of motherhood especially can feel like a Boot Camp in finding new edges of endurance, patience and even love.
Have you ever been stuck on the couch with a baby attached to you who JUST drifted off to sleep after a long night of insomnia, while the toddler has a temper tantrum at your feet, and then your three-year-old has a potty accident? You haven’t eaten since sometime early yesterday, and the overwhelm and responsibility for the tiny little beings feels like it might suffocate you?
Suddenly, you just want your own mom.
But then you realize that you ARE the mom.
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Maneuvering Motherhood with Grace
When we are pushed up to these edges of our ability, when we feel so internally overwhelmed and stressed that we aren’t sure which way to turn, what do we do? How do we maneuver through these parenting moments with our grace (and sanity) still in tact?
This is why meditation for moms can be so important. Knowing how to deal with moments like these on an internal, mental/emotional level isn’t necessarily a skill-set many of us are taught. I know I wasn’t.
I wish I could give you a simple, one size fits all solution, but I’m afraid it’s not that simple. However, I do have a few tips that have helped me over the years to navigate these mothering scenarios with a little less stress and a little more grace.
Here are the top Meditation for Moms tips that have helped me reduce stress as a mother
Mom Meditation Tip 1) BREATH
There are a lot of really effective breath techniques that you can learn about and practice.
However, I have found that when I am in the stress of the moment and already multi-tasking out the wazoo, that practicing a complicated breath technique (no matter how effective) isn’t always an option.
Heck, who am I kidding! Even just remembering a complicated breath technique is often more than I can handle in these moments!
So instead, this is what I do.
Just Breath…
I tell myself, rather firmly, BREATH. Then, I start breathing THROUGH MY NOSE. I inhale through my nose, and exhale through my nose. If I’m extremely tense, it may start out as a fairly rapid, shallow breath.
Here’s the key: However long the inhale is, make the exhale TWICE AS LONG. Count it out in your head if you need to. 2 second inhale, 4 second exhale. 3 second inhale, 6 second exhale, etc. etc.
After a few rounds of breathing like this, I am able to deepen my breath a bit, drawing a fuller inhale, and lengthening my exhale a bit more.
Creating a lengthened exhale helps to calm central nervous system. When we are stressed we tend to begin breathing very shallowly, and even hyperventilating. Focusing on lengthening the exhale is the most quickest, most effective way to calm yourself internally that I have found.
This breath is simple enough that I can usually manage to do it even while changing diapers, comforting little ones or doing multiple other tasks. It’s something that I can do without having to set aside extra time to do it, which in this phase of life can be absolutely crucial for success.
Mom Meditation Tip 2) FOCUS
Often times, when I begin feeling overwhelmed and waves of stress or panic start to set in, I realize it’s not because of what’s going on in my outer world as much as what is going on in my inner world, or mind.
Noticing that my thoughts have become frantic, disorganized, repetitive and negative in nature helps me to recognize that it is these thoughts (not my external situation) that are causing me stress.
To calm my mind and retrain it toward a more positive mindset, I choose one word, and focus on it for several minutes at a time.
Some of my favorites are love, joy, or peace but I’m sure there are plenty others that would work as well. I pick one of those words and I hold the word in my mind as I inhale and I hold the word in my head as I exhale…sometimes in conjunction with the breathing exercise above.
If I maintain this for several minutes at a time it seems to help my brain to interrupt negative thought cycles. Unwanted thoughts always pop up during this process, but I just set them aside and keep going.
When I practice this for several days consistently-every time I am able to- after a while I find it that I am in a state of deep peace and joy that I rarely experience otherwise.
It’s almost magical. And the really magical thing is that this is something I am able to practice even during the most busy times of my day.
Here are some more tips on how to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE as a Busy Mom
Mom Meditation Tip 3) PAUSE
The third technique I have found that really helps me a lot when I am feeling frantic and stressed is to create a mental pause. Let me try to explain…
Often, if I am past the point of no return stress wise, the first two exercises feel almost impossible get started. If I am so tense I find myself unable to take a full breath, or on able to focus my thoughts on a single word, then I ask myself this question:
What is my next thought going to be?
For whatever reason, this simple question immediately creates a clear space in my mind. And as I sit and wait for the next thought, I am able to sense the separation between ME, and my THOUGHTS.
Sometimes my next thought appears within a fraction of a second. Sometimes it takes several seconds or even several dozen seconds to appear.
This allows me to see that I am not my thoughts, and my thoughts do not own me. Rather, they are a tool that I can choose to use. And then when I do have a thought I am very aware of what it is and if it is a thought I wish to entertain, or if I would rather choose some different thoughts that would better serve me.
Summary
While I am far from perfect, and hardly consider myself a master at these techniques, just having these simple tools in my “tool box” has made a very dramatic difference in my mothering life…at least when I am disciplined enough to use them consistently! I’ll be the first to admit I’m a work-in-progress, and am always working on improving in this area!
Meditation for moms is very important for reducing stress and taking care of yourself. I really encourage you to give these simple techniques a try. Please let me know if you do, and if they helped you, or if you have any other tips or techniques that help you experience less stress as a mother! (If you are a stay at home mom you might enjoy reading this post, too: STAY AT HOME MOMS ARE LAZY)
