Spiritual Parenting with Mimi Doe

Natural Parenting

 

I am often asked by parents how they can embrace a natural approach to raising their children.  "Natural parenting" has all sorts of connotations -- eating tofu, meditating, and chanting with babies or allowing children to raise themselves.  Actually, I see natural parenting as approaching our roles as mothers or fathers as an almost sacred opportunity to deepen our intuition and connection with both Spirit and these huge spirits housed in little bodies that we are living with.

I wrote this month's  Spiritual Parenting Newsletter about Natural Parenting.  Read it and share your definitions of natural parenting here.

 

Kids and Nature

"Being out in nature got me through the awkward teenage years. I chose to be close to trees and plants rather than the always shifting social realm. I did sports and excelled in academics but, finding myself, my true self, was always in nature."

--Matt, Age 33

 
"When I read Tuck Everlasting I finally got the 'circle of life' thing. One of the characters says 'You can’t have living if you don’t have dying.'"

--Ellen, Age 13

Make sure that your month of July has lots of room for connecting with nature.  How often our summers become an extension of the school year in shorts and than poof...it's gone.

Make an effort to extend bedtimes so your kids can run in the twilight, look for stars, twirl on the front yard.  Make an effort to drive to the watering hole at sundown or the sun rise...

Make an effort to grab some summer breezes and a chance for your child to play in nature -- no strings attached. 

I've written more about the importance of our children's connections with nature in my monthly newsletter.

What does your family do in the summers to foster a deeper love of mother earth?

Mimi