Mindfulness & Meditation for Better Parenting with Kristen O'meara
In this episode, we discuss the importance of being mindful, or "in the now." Noticing the little things and increasing your awareness of your breath can change your entire perspective for yourself and your parenting.
How can finding a hawk feather lead you to a better understanding of your desire for freedom? Can you be mindful while washing the dishes?
In this episode, Kristen and I talk about meditation and mindfulness and how it positively impacts our soul and our ability to parent. The 1st step to increase your mindfulness is to have a practice that calms your mind and your nervous system. Next, pay attention to your breath and have a deep awareness of your body and your consciousness in the present moment.
Kristen acknowledges that her 1st attempt to sit and meditate…”sucked.” Being present in her body, to be grounded, opened her up to the struggles and healing she needed to experience.
She gives us great ideas on how to introduce mindfulness to our children. She recommends making it enjoyable. Be more childlike in everything you do and see the world through different eyes. Really, being present should bring joy.
And notice, every time Kristen says the word “breathe”…see if you take a breath!! I did. It’s good for you.
I hope you enjoy. And, let me know what you think.
Kristen O'Meara
Kristen is a single mother of Austin, who is her heart and joy. She has a master’s degree in counseling psychology, working in nonprofit mental health and education for many years. She is also a practicing intuitive with extensive training in the art of psychic reading, mediumship, and spiritual healing.
Austin is a teen boy who can tell a joke with the timing of a highly trained comic, and he is always searching for the next pun. Like a hawk, he notices everything, and is equally curious about what sees. He is a master with his imagination, creating worlds within worlds in his mind. He is also an artist, steward of small creatures, and he is on the autism spectrum.
Kristen received Austin's diagnosis of autism in 2009. After a period of prolonged grief, she experienced a spontaneous awakening that allowed her just enough awareness to begin to heal. A decade later, her healing journey has evolved to support parents of special needs children. Through spiritual counseling and intuitive readings, she works with parents to help them discover new perspectives that have the power to transform fear and doubt into great gains in personal growth and spiritual awareness, with a focus on developing self-compassion and unconditional love.
Her forthcoming book, The Healing Way: A Path of Self-Transformation and Love, captures her healing journey and the lessons she learned. She was inspired to write a book to support parents who feel stuck and want to heal themselves as she once did. In her book, Kristen points to the power of the catalysts in special needs parenting and how catalysts create the "call" to begin a journey of self-transformation and healing. Catalysts are day-to-day challenges that create stress and anxiety, activating anything that needs attention and healing within.
These catalysts or "calls" are powerful. If we pay attention to them, not avoiding the uncomfortable feelings they evoke, we can discover lessons that lead to deeper insight and greater understanding about who we are and the life we are living. There are lessons to learn from our suffering that are full of revelation and truths that guide us to transform how we think and feel about ourselves, and how we live our lives. Self-discovery is essential to healing, and Kristen's book is calling parents to begin their own journey to heal.
In 2013, Kristen learned how to channel Austin’s higher self. This experience, which started as an experiment, deepened her spiritual understanding of her relationship with Austin and their life together, and it greatly influenced her writing. Kristen opens and closes each chapter with an inspiriting message from Austin’s higher self.
Kristen and Austin live in northern California with grandma, Princey-Pooh the cat, and Ruby Rose the tortoise. They spend a lot of time talking about Pokémon and Transformers, watching movies, and going to comic book and crystal stores.