Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

hanging from my body. In playing around on the floor,
we would spontaneously discover new yoga postures
for two bodies, things that we could do together. A
mostly non-verbal, mindful, and respectful body-play
of this sort was a source of tremendous fun and joy
for me as a father and a deep source of
connectedness that we all shared in.
The older children get, the harder it is to remember
that they are still live-in Zen masters. The challenges
to be mindful and non-reactive, and to look clearly at
my reactions and overreactions and to own when I
am off seem to get greater as I gradually have less
and less direct say in their lives. Old tapes from my
own upbringing seem to surface with the volume on
full blast before I know what is happening. Archetypal
male stuff, about my role in the family, legitimate and
illegitimate authority and how to assert my power,
how comfortable I feel in the house, interpersonal
relationships among people of very different ages and
stages and their oft-competing needs. Each day is a
new challenge. Often it feels overwhelming, and
sometimes quite lonely. You sense widening gulfs,
and recognize the importance of distance for healthy
psychic development and exploration; but the moving
apart, healthy as it may be, also hurts. Sometimes I
forget what it means to be an adult myself and get
stuck in infantile behaviors. The kids quickly