The Conscious Parent

act them out. We sit with our thoughts and emotions in a nonreactive
manner, having no need to dump them onto our external reality. In this
way, we free ourselves and others from the emotional entanglement that
comes from being in the clutches of our past conditioning.
How does this affect our children? Imagine that, as a parent, the
thought occurs to you, “My child isn’t listening to me.” Or you begin to
feel, “I’m being disrespected.” Instead of interpreting this to mean, “My
child is disrespectful,” or, “I am a hopeless parent,” you sit with your
thoughts and emotions. “Why am I feeling triggered?” you ask yourself.
Perhaps you come to the realization that you feel helpless in some area
of your own life that’s unrelated to parenthood, and your child is simply
activating this feeling. Or maybe you realize that your child is triggering
the feelings of helplessness and powerlessness you felt when you were a
child. By becoming aware of these feelings, you don’t act out what you
are thinking or feeling with your child, but instead respond from a more
centered place. Even if your child needs to be corrected, the way in
which this is delivered is less blind, less personalized.
By learning not to react to your every thought or emotion, you
demonstrate to your children that their thoughts and emotions don’t have
to call forth a reaction, but can be used to teach you something about
yourself. As your children discover the power of sitting with their
thoughts and feelings, their own inner space opens up so that they create
a connection to their true being.
From watching our own thoughts and emotions as they arise and
subside, we move into watching the world around us. This entails
learning to see that reality simply is, which enables us to respond to it