Gopika Kapoor, the author of well known books like Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom (and Wit) for Raising your Child in a Stress-free and Spiritual Environment, asks all the mommies to spend their time doing activities that they enjoy rather their following certain norms that restrict them to do so.
Every morning I meditate using the Sattva app on my phone. This amazing little tool allows me to access a variety of guided meditations, chants and meditation music, and transport me from busy to blissed out in a matter of minutes. One of the meditations I did recently got me thinking about what reality I want to project for my kids.
As I plugged in and listened to the soothing tinkling music and the serene voice of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar taking me through the Aura meditation, I grew from being just me to a being of the Universe. This particular mediation is based on the idea of expanding one’s consciousness and making us realize that we are so much more than these bodies we have been born into.
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As the meditation ended and I was still feeling that warm, fuzzy glow that stays for a while, I started thinking about how this knowledge applies to my life. After studying Vedanta for almost 10 years, I have gleaned a little bit of knowledge and can now look at most situations in perspective and with a degree of equanimity. But what good was this knowledge, I thought, if I cannot pass it on to my children? Moreover, how could I teach them to step out of a limited life and to aspire for larger than themselves?
And then the answer came to me: by teaching them not to fear. As parents, our job is to protect, but don’t you feel that these days we tend to take our job of protection a little too seriously and a bit too far? The term ‘helicopter parents’ hasn’t been coined for nothing, and we’ve all seen (or even been!) parents who literally hover around their children, watching their every move, waiting for them to stumble and fall so they can swoop in an clear up the mess.
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We think that we are keeping our children safe – which we are to an extent. But the damage that we are doing to our kids is more – we are teaching them that:
- It’s a scary world out there
- You can fall
- If you fall, Mama or Papa will pick you up; you can’t get up by yourself
- Be careful always
- Don’t try anything new – you never know what can happen.
These are pretty strong messages, albeit indirect ones, to send our kids, and we do it all the time. So how does this connect with me meditating?
As my own consciousness expanded I realized that we have to let our kids’ consciousness, world view and sense of self worth expand as well. And the only way to teach them to do this is by teaching them that yes, they have to be careful, but more importantly they have to be brave and to not fear. They have to know that for them the sky is the limit; only then will they aspire for it. Or rather, in the words of Kid President, my favorite kid on YouTube, they were meant to be awesome!
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Mihika Edwin Menezes
KSP Team
Rohan Vyavaharkar
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Gopika Kapoor
