For the next few months, I am going to do a brief recap of some powerful parenting (with educational topics) books I’ve read.
Sometimes reading quotes from books helps shift my mindset on certain topics and gets me focused on what’s really important when raising children.
Book Title: Mindfulness for Parents
Author: Amber Hatch
Book Synopsis:
Parenting may be our most important and rewarding task, yet dealing with the everyday pressures of family life is a constant challenge. Mindfulness is the number-one tool for staying present and calm amidst the chaos. So how can we parents be more mindful when raising our children?
In this personal yet extremely practical guide, Amber Hatch will show you what mindfulness is, how you do it and how it will help you rise to the challenges of parenthood.
Packed with examples, you will learn how to:
Stay calm in a crisis
Feel more connected to your children
Deal with day-to-day pressures and flashpoints
Feel good about how you talk to your family
Keep a sense of perspective
Maintain and develop a meditation practice.
Whether you already use mindfulness techniques or not, this audiobook will help you achieve a calmer, happier and more relaxed family life. If you are a happy mum, you will have a happy baby.
My Review:
This book on mindfulness for parents by Amber Hatch explains mindfulness as the following:
“Thoughts can often entice us away from the experience of real life, as it is happening. There are times when it is absolutely appropriate for you to be figuring out how to pay the gas bill, but that time is not when you are getting ready for your son’s swimming class. Being mindful when thinking can keep us on track, but this can particularly tricky as thoughts can be intoxicating and make us forget to be aware.” Page 21
Top Ten Quotes:
- When we practice mindfulness, we start to see each other as we really are. This can enable us t become more connected with ourselves and those around us. Buddhism teaches that there are four qualities that we can develop on a foundation of mindfulness. 1. Loving-Kindness 2. Compassion 3. Joy 4. Equanimity” Page 41
- “Just like mindfulness, the four qualities can be actually cultivated. This means if we practice them, we can actually feel more love, more joy, more compassion and more equanimity.” Page 42
- “Equanimity is the quality that enables us to continue to love and feel compassion and joy even when it’s difficult. It protects us by keeping us balanced and grounded.” Page 53
- “Kindness turns to compassion when it finds pain and joy when it finds happiness.” page 59
- “Advice to keep things simple to practice mindfulness: Keep your home clutter free, Don’t let toys take over, Beware of overscheduling the kids, monitor screen time and spend time in nature.” Page 90
- On listening (which goes along with my word of the year, CONNECT) “We listen, not so we can respond with our own ideas, but so we can really find out about people.” Page 113
- Ted Talk mentioned in the book by Dave Morris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUO-pWJ0riQ
- “Finding ways to empower children. Look out for causes or campaigns that you think may capture the interest of your children and help them to come up with ways to support that cause.”
- “Finding ways to empower children. Children can raise money through cake stands or asking for sponsorship, or they could write a letter to a company or politician.”
- “We are probably closer to our children than we are, or will ever be, with any other person.” Page 41
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