How my daughter and I started rituals for a purposeful, mindful day every day
I have never been a parent that stuck with strict routines and schedules. My daughter largely guides her schedule for the day unless we have to be somewhere, and we loosely follow some routines around bedtime. Recently, with the new year and a feeling of fresh beginnings coming from our new astrological era (The Age of Aquarius), I decided that we should create focus and intention for every day, and then close each day with peace. So, I created some rituals for mindfulness meditation that works for kids. My five-year-old daughter was on board with this idea.
I’m a single mom, so this past year my days have felt like an endless string of obligations — wake up and make sure I’m showered so I can work, make her breakfast, do the dishes and laundry, clean the apartment, and get her to bed. Then start over again the next day. Do I accomplish this with grace? Not usually. It has felt like a stream of checking tasks off a never-ending to-do list, without any end in sight or any chance of determining if I was successful.
This will not happen from now on thanks to our new rituals. We start the day with intention and end with calm reflection. Would you like to know what these rituals are? I’ve listed them for you in case you can find inspiration for your own family. I think they are simple enough to be easily incorporated into anyone’s day.
Morning Five Minute Yoga
When we wake up, we roll out our yoga mats in the living room next to each other and practice freestyle yoga for 5-10 minutes. It allows us to feel unrestrained by an online class and just do what makes us feel good. I put on soothing music from India with chants reminding us of our connection to the divine. We twist our bodies around and she asks me to look at what she’s doing enthusiastically. It’s wonderful.
This really helps us ground ourselves and reminds us that we are in these capable, supple bodies that can carry us through our days.
Meditation
After yoga, we sit quietly, even if it’s just for one minute. She likes to sit right in front of the full-length window with me. We hold hands. The music is still playing.
If we are really short on time, we might skip the yoga and only do the meditation. She says it’s “yoga” anyway, as she sits cross-legged with her hands stretched out on her knees. And she is right. Yoga is an exercise of the mind.
This practice takes us out of our busy heads for a moment to reset our intention in life, something easily forgotten if we get swept up in the activities of the day. The very next thing we do is get ready to go to school or some appointment, so thoughts of our purpose quickly could become unimportant if we don’t slow down and tune in for a moment. As soon as we start putting shoes on and getting our bags together, we are beyond the ability to slow down. It’s important to grab that chance while we can.
Bedtime Reading
In the evening, we wind down with a story. But I’ve changed it up recently since she’s five now. She no longer needs to read storybooks for children, so we’ve started reading children’s novels like those by Roald Dahl. She listens to my voice and I think it helps with the imagination. She can visualize the story for herself instead of being fed the pictures. But most importantly, she hears my voice, a frequency she’s found comfort in from before she was born.
Spiritual Music to Sleep
After the story, I put on a similar playlist to the one we listened to in the morning with our yoga practice. She lies on her stomach and I rub her back. The music slowly builds up, guiding our minds to something greater than ourselves. We end the day knowing that whatever stresses we faced are minor bumps in the road of our journey. Looking at our waking moments in peace, we can close out the day without feeling pulled to finish something. Every day, we have walked upon this Earth and left something good behind.
We are soothed into deep sleep.
Closing
Many people benefit from a routine to remain grounded. For busy parents and especially single moms like me, it becomes so easy to leave out daily actions that could benefit us greatly. Kids and adults can benefit from mindfulness and meditation. All it takes is a subtle shift to start practicing intention and focus. Trust me, it isn’t a huge time commitment.
Make time for yourself.
If you’re interested, we recommend yogaglo for their guided yoga and meditation videos to get started, and Drala for background music. If this inspired you, perhaps you’d like to read my post about meditation and ego.
Namaste.
