How Mindfulness Benefits Parenting

For thousands of years, people have practiced mindfulness to increase their insight, empathy, and ability to approach life with balance and calmness. Over the past fifteen years, research has increasingly confirmed the benefits of these practices. Not only does mindful awareness improve mental and physical well-being, it also promotes healthy relationships and even changes how the brain functions. These benefits have direct relevance for parents. Mindfulness, or mindful awareness, consists of paying attention to one’s experiences in the present moment, with curiosity and without judgment. The confirmed benefits include: • Improved attention • Heightened empathy • Less anxiety and depression • Better communication and closeness between couples • More satisfaction with parenting For parents, mindful awareness can help you tune in to your children’s needs and feelings in a way that’s healthy for both of you. Mindfulness also helps you become more self aware and to understand yourself better – the single factor most highly associated with secure attachment in children. Parents who practice mindfulness are more likely to parent in ways that promote resilience among their offspring. People who have learned mindful awareness practices are often better able to handle stress, showing measurably faster decreases in their levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, following a challenging task. Even the body’s immune response can be stronger among people trained in mindfulness. And as scientists develop better and better tools to map brain structures and neural patterns, it is becoming increasingly clear that mindful awareness practices benefit the health and functioning of the brain. Teachers and practitioners have developed many ways to adapt the ancient practices of mindfulness to modern life – and to the particular challenges of parenting. It’s worth a try to explore ways to incorporate mindful awareness into your family’s routines. The benefits can last a lifetime.