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Living mindfully

9/23/2013

1 Comment

 
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Please have patience with me and this blog. Despite being a "social network addict" (ok, not really, but I do use it quite a bit), I don't blog. This is my first attempt and when I thought about what I could blog about, I thought about what is important to me both professionally and personally and the ideas started flowing about both mindfulness and parenting. 

I enjoy sharing my personal struggles and triumphs with others when they are relevant and helpful. A recent struggle (and triumph) as a new mom that I went through was sleep training. Eww... that's the first comment I have to make about sleep training. It's awful. Maybe not for everyone, but it was awful for me. I tried to put on my hats of behaviorist and mother at the same time, and I really struggled. I came out of it alive (and so did my daughter... thank God!). 

I am going to be brief about the actual sleep training and focus instead on the lessons I learned as a parent, therapist and human being.
  • What you know to be true doesn't always "feel right".
  • What feels right isn't always what is best for you.
  • Doing what is best for you in that moment can be a very emotionally painful experience.

Sleep training was so hard for me as a mother. We tried so many methods and there were so many times when I wanted to quit (and my daughter wanted to quit every step of the way), but despite my heart pulling me towards quitting, I rehearsed mindful affirmations that I made up for myself specific to this situation because I knew that it was best for our family. It may not have felt that way, but I knew it to be true.

Throughout this experience, I was mindful of the difference between my emotional and rational minds. I realized early on that if I had not been mindful of that, it would have been a much more difficult experience for me, and the outcome may have been completely different. 

Now, my daughter sleeps peacefully in her crib, I am enjoying significantly more sleep and more time with my husband and I had many opportunities to practice mindfulness skills during my family's sleep training adventure. I truly believe that we are all happier and healthier and I am thankful that I am living mindfully.


1 Comment
Mom
5/30/2015 02:39:15 pm

My daughter never went through sleep training. We just made it up as we went along and eventually she was sleeping fine in her crib on her own before she was one. Its a learning process for sure. Nowadays theres so much information and research, it can become overwhelming. Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts, or should I say always...

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    Aimee Solis is a licensed professional counselor practicing in Colorado Springs.

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Mindful Springs Counseling, PLLC
9475 Briar Village Pt., Suite 215
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Tel: (719) 357-8957   Fax: (719) 452-3580
www.mindfulsprings.com