TIPS 26-27: Sleep and Innocence

MEDITATION PRACTICE FOR MOMS AND DADS, Tip # 26: Sleep is underrated. If you are totally sleep deprived as a parent, you are at best barely functional and at worst a safety hazard. If you are sleep deprived when you meditate, you'll probably just pass out. If you are already sleep deprived and you set your alarm extra early to meditate before waking the kids up, fuggetaboutit.

MEDITATION PRACTICE FOR MOMS AND DADS, Tip #27: Children have a way of interpreting, utilizing, and expressing the spiritual/yogic/meditation teachings in their own unique ways. Because we are adults with lots of stories--i.e. baggage--that can affect or infect our interpretations, these unique expressions of children can either irritate us and make us feel we need to correct them towards the "proper" way of expression, or, better yet, bring us back to total innocence if we let them. Take my 4-year old son, for example, who, like most young children, is full of totally innocent, unique, and hilarious expression. Today, I asked him to use a mindful "Yoga Nidra" type of body scan to help him get to sleep for naptime. So he did, a la: "Go to sleep, eyes! BAM!!!" (hitting his face close to his eyes). HAHAHAHHA! "Go to sleep, head! SUPER ZOP!!!!" (punching self on the head), HAHAHAHHAHA! "Get yourself to sleep, ears! WHAAMMMMOO!" (boxing himself on the ears), BWAAAAAAHAAHAHA! etc....Similarly, my daily efforts to remind my children that we use this experience of life to help and support all beings was expressed uniquely by the 4-year old this morning, when he put gobs of white sunblock all over his arms, legs and face, looked at himself, laughed hugely, and proclaimed VERY loudly to our dog, Freedom: "LOOK AT ME!! I AM WHITE MAN!! WHITE MAN WILL HEEEEEELP PEOPLE AND ANIMALS ON THIS EARTH! THAT IS MY JOB! THE JOB OF WHIIIITE MAAAAAAAN!"