The parenting plate
Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed. ―Thich Nhat Hanh
👥 Serves: 1 person
🎚 Difficulty: Easy
⏳ Total time: 1-10 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: Something to write on and write with
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Meaning, Rest, Ritualising
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Balance, Hosting yourself, Letting go, Reflection, Refuge, Seeking support, Service
The parenting plate
📝 Description
Be more purposeful and present as a parent by knowing what is on your plate.
Being a parent can be overwhelming and exhausting at times. Sometimes, we just keep going, adding more and more things to our plate without knowing what’s on it or checking in on what is truly essential and what we really need.
Approaching this season of parenting with intentionality allows us to be more aware of what’s on our plate, what we are holding onto, and what we can let go of – so that might be able to see what’s possible to create a little more spaciousness, joy, and calm and in our lives, and those of our children.
This recipe has been kindly donated by our changemaker friend Jiezhen Wu, founder of The Possibility Playbook and senior consultant at Linden Leadership. She is also the mother to a spunky, curious and playful little girl, Juniper Joy. Connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Preparation (1’)
Find and create a space – physically, energetically, and emotionally – for you to have this time for you. It could be deciding to go on a short walk, finding a quiet corner in your home, waking up early before the kids get up, or staying up for a few moments when they go to bed.
Step 2 – Pause (2’)
As parents we are often on the go. Give yourself the gift of a short pause – with nowhere to go, nothing to do, just to allow yourself to be here and now for 2 minutes. Notice your breath, notice how your body is feeling if that feels accessible to you, and notice any emotions that may arise. Try not to judge them, or push them away, but just to allow them to float by like a cloud in the sky. Close your moment of pause with one mindful breath.
Step 3 – Play (3’)
Put on a song you love and take a piece of paper or your journal and draw a circle that takes up a full page – this is your parenting plate. Start to write/draw/sketch what you have on your plate for the duration of the song.
Step 4 – Pruning with purpose (4’)
Take a mindful breath, and take a look at what’s on your plate. And ask yourself these questions:
- What is most important to me right now?
- What do I want to keep on my plate or have more of?
- What might I be able to let go of?
Feel free to circle, cross out, scribble notes to yourself on or around your possibility plate or on another page. If you have some time, you might want to journal and reflect on these questions further.
Step 5 – Possibility (1’)
Ask yourself, “Given what I know now, what’s possible for me to be a more purposeful and present parent?”