Welcome Zen friends . I hope , wherever you are , you're doing well . On today's Drop of Zen are short guided meditation . I have a meditation for you designed to help you if you have a child in your life who is struggling with anxiety . For parents or caretakers of children with anxiety , it is incredibly hard . Many times . Kids with anxiety are constantly looking for reassurance or are very irritable and are acting out , and that can really push buttons . So if any of that is something that you can relate to , then I hope this meditation will help .
Speaker 1Go ahead and find a nice comfortable spot , make sure you are not driving and begin by closing your eyes or just a nice soft gaze downward and let's just let ourselves arrive . We can often feel anxiety about our children's anxiety . We can pick up on their emotions , especially for those of us who are very empathic , but typically you are connected to your children and are very likely to feel their emotions . So just notice . Is there any anxiety showing up for you ? And we're not going to try to change it , but just notice it , allow it and then notice any sounds going on around you , any smells in the air just really starting to become very present . You can notice the chair or the floor beneath you . Notice where your body is making contact with where you're sitting . Notice if there are any of your body parts touching other body parts maybe hands sitting on top of your thighs . Just notice what you notice and then I'll invite you to start tuning in and let's bring our attention to our heart center . And let's start there by inviting in compassion Compassion for us as human beings . We are not perfect and as caretakers of children who we love so deeply , it can feel really uncomfortable and we can go to a place of shame or judgment when we feel like we're not responding appropriately . Can we offer ourselves some love and compassion ? I promise you that no one , including myself , is ever doing it perfectly . And then let's see if we can continue giving ourselves some love and compassion just for showing up , for listening to a podcast designed to help you in your parenting and designed to help you care for yourself and big old stars for trying to improve and do better .
Speaker 1And then I'll invite you to see your child's face . I like to put my child's face right in my heart center and then surround their beautiful face with some soft white light and look into their eyes and feel a deep loving connection . If this is hard to do right now because you're feeling disconnected from your child or you're feeling upset with them in some way , that's okay . Back to the love and connection . Most of us are in that place at some time .
Speaker 1If that's the case , see if you can see your child at a younger age , when you did more easily feel that connection and softness to them , and just gaze into their eyes and feel that love pouring out from you into them . And I want you to invite in the notion that they are going to be just fine , and remember that we are all having a human experience and that also includes challenges along the way , and we can't protect our children from those challenges . We can support them , but that support does not take away that there's pain along the way , that there's difficult feelings for them , but they can grow and learn from their challenging experiences just as , hopefully , we are as well . And with loving , guiding parents , it can make such a big difference . So just staying there , gazing into your children's eyes your child's eyes , rather , that one child that you have brought the image to mind and are holding them in your heart center , and just offer them love for one more moment , and then we'll start to let that image fade , maybe get smaller until we no longer see it .
Speaker 1And now , returning to your body , notice what you're feeling . Have your muscles relaxed a little bit ? Do you feel a little more calm , a little more grounded ? Hopefully , you feel like you're in a better place to be with your child , as you continue to , most likely , care for them . Today , one more time offering some love and compassion to ourselves and then , when you're ready , taking a nice deep breath in a long , slow breath out , bringing your attention back to the room around you and knowing that you can return to this meditation anytime . I'm so glad you joined me here today . Until next time , I hope you'll continue to take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself .