Meditation for Parents and Anyone with No Time

Some ways parents (specifically, moms) can develop a meditation practice

It’s a struggle to find time to meditate with a child at home. If you even find a minute to yourself, you’ll likely be interrupted or distracted during the meditation session. Trust me, I am a single mom at home most of the time with a five-year-old. (I just meditated for ten minutes in the bathtub.) But I am training to be a certified meditation teacher, and I am practicing what I preach by meditating every day. How the heck am I doing it?! Well, I’ll tell you.

But I’ll also tell you why the whole cultural institution of meditation and mindfulness is sexist and not designed for parents. I mean, I assume you already knew this if you’re reading this. But I want to make it crystal clear, and also step forward as one person trying to change that. Everyone can find peace, meditate, and even reach enlightenment. Why? Because we are all human.

Parents have such a divine link because we have helped to create and develop a new human into this world: a complex, multidimensional, and powerful being with a precious consciousness. There is no way you can tell me that we are somehow spiritually lesser than any monk, yogi, or priest. Absolutely not.

To start the revolution of parents, especially mothers, in being spiritual icons, I have given a few tips here for you to begin your meditation practice, and all I ask is that you try it, do it, and continue it. Don’t give up!

Do it for you and for the human collective consciousness. We need you.

Meditate When You Can

I have been meditating daily for months now and I am at the point that I can keep some inner stability and clarity in meditation even if my daughter starts screaming during it. I know this isn’t possible for everyone, especially those starting out. But meditation is so important for our mental and spiritual health, and I encourage you to keep going with it. You’ll get to that point with practice.

Meditation can be done in stints. If you do it for five minutes, you’ve gotten further than if you hadn’t done it at all. Steal a moment here and there, sit in your desk chair or car seat and just let your mind settle.

It’s not easy, but you will eventually make it your routine. You will crave the moments of inner peace and healing as much as you’re craving an ice cream sandwich right now.

Change Your Schedule

Perhaps you already wake up at dawn because you have a child who wakes you up at dawn. If not, I recommend waking up just before dawn to get a meditation session in. It’s a great time because your spirit has just returned to your physical body to start a new day of experiences, but you aren’t distracted by the ups and downs of your daily life just yet. Your mind is less turbulent.

If this doesn’t work, try meditating after the kids are asleep for the night. It’s not as preferable, but it’s something you should try. Maybe just do fifteen minutes at a time at first and see how that goes. Do it for you and for the human collective consciousness. We need you.

Meditation is Sexist

My back hurts when I meditate sitting upright. Always has. It is the main reason I never did a meditation retreat. I spent years wondering why my back hurts when I see pictures of yogis sitting in that position blissfully. Then it dawned on me: they’re all men.

That’s right. My boobs weigh me down in front and then I end up hunching over, there’s no way around that.

But the bigger problem is that men dominate the idea of meditation. Men are historically the only ones passing on the knowledge of meditation. Men get to tell you how to sit and how to ascend. Just. Like. Everything. Else.

So, you know what I’m going to do? I am going to tell you that you can meditate lying down if your back hurts. You can do whatever the heck you want to do. Do what makes sense to you.

Further than this, I am going to tell you that you can meditate with your kids. You can meditate while hiding from your kids in the bathroom. You can tell a meditation expert on their zoom class when they say it’s time to clear away any distractions, “hi, I’m at home alone with my five year old and that’s just not going to happen right now.” You are going to be proud of your parenthood and flaunt it.

You are going to tell the world you reached enlightenment while parenting small children. Yes, you are!

(In all honesty, you probably won’t because you’d be very uninterested in telling anyone that kind of thing at that stage.)

All I am saying is that you aren’t excluded from the realm of spirituality and from reaching your higher self just because you’re a parent or a woman. Or both. Nobody has a monopoly on this aspect of your existence.

So Then…

You are strong. You are worthy. You have a human mind with limitless potential and a human body that has unleashed its potential by creating a new human. You’re incredible. Meditation can be for parents, too. If you’re craving a connection to the spiritual or even just the mindful realm of life, you can do it. I am telling you that you can do it. I am doing it, and that means you can.

Don’t forget who you are.