Three Reasons Why Mindfulness Benefits Parents

As part of my work over the past few years to develop a yoga and mindfulness program for adoptive families, I have

focused most of my efforts on bringing yoga and mindfulness to adopted children and to the parent-child relationship. Now, I am turning some of my attention to the wellbeing of adoptive parents and other trauma-informed caregivers. I recently published my initial post on this topic, "Three Reasons Why Mindfulness Benefits Parents," on Parenting with Connection, a website providing resources related to trauma-informed and connected parenting, especially adoptive and foster parenting. Here's an excerpt from the post's introduction:

"I’ve been practicing mindfulness on and off since the early 2000s, and I started teaching it, along with yoga, to children soon after that. When I became a parent in 2010, it felt natural to integrate it into our family life as well. I know that mindfulness has had a positive impact on my kids (whom my husband and I adopted from China), but just as importantly, it has benefited me, particularly my ability to parent in a connected and trauma-informed manner. Here, I discuss three reasons why mindfulness has been a vital practice for me as a parent and why I have recommended it to other adoptive and special needs parents with whom I’ve worked."

You can read the entire post here. In future posts, which I will publish on my own blog, I will discuss the benefits of specific mindfulness and self-care practices for trauma-informed parents and caregivers. I will also discuss strategies to help them integrate these practices into their often challenging and overwhelming lives.

#mindfulness #adoption #selfcare #caregivers #trauma #parenting