Slowing Down In A Too-Fast World
*Update: The start date for Mom Village, meditation group for moms, has been moved to Feb 27 (our youngest son’s first birthday!).
I started writing this piece last week before I knew that my older son’s teachers would get Covid and his preschool would be shut down all week (and maybe next week too). I’m scrambling to write about mindful motherhood while the baby naps and the 4-year-old bangs. I’m super passionate about supporting moms and I am super tired as a mom. Could you please help a mother out and spread the word about Mom Village? Share this with mom friends or on social media. Let’s create a more peaceful world together by supporting moms, one meditation group at a time!
Mom Village began in the winter of 2020 when I found myself isolated at home with our 9-month-old and losing my mind. I was scared to lead a class through Zoom and never expected to enjoy this venue. I felt like too much of a mess to lead meditation and Sensory Awareness. I kept reminding myself that this was not a parenting class, it was a mindfulness class. While I’m still a beginner at parenting I have over 17 years of experience with daily meditation practice and leading mindfulness classes in-person.
Even through screens, I found that something magical happens when we come together and slow down. I have a daily meditation practice, but I do it alone most of the time. When we witness each other finding deep relaxation, pleasure, sensuality, and joy, we all become more radiant. We start to glow. It allows us to let go of our holding patterns. Our physical and mental stress melts away. What’s left is luminous. It feels so good to be bathed in this type of communal relaxation and pleasure in our own bodies, in our own homes. It’s amazing that this is available to us all the time. We can access this together by slowing down deeply; Slowing our breathing, our movements, our minds.
It started out as a drop-in class and then evolved into a 6-week workshop. Starting this February I’m leading the first 3-month deep-dive immersion program. This will be a safe cozy container for a group of mothers to grow and blossom. Don’t be scared of the 3-month commitment! This is how we practice carving out time for ourselves- we commit to it and have a community to hold us accountable. No one will be shamed or punished for missing a week or two. Life happens and we keep coming back to ourselves in community. I’ve found that a loose drop-in class and a 6-week immersion doesn’t feel like enough anymore to create real change; To integrate meditation and Sensory Awareness practices into our daily lives, into our bones.
When I began leading Mom Village in 2020 I imagined it would be for just this short stint of global desperation. What I’ve found is that moms still need help relaxing. We need encouragement and permission to take time for ourselves, to care for ourselves deeply, permission to fill our own cups. When our cups are empty, we can’t fill anyone else’s. This sounds so simple, but what I’ve found, as a mother who works with mothers, is that most of us feel depleted, run dry and pressured to keep rushing; Pushed to fill everyone else around us while we sacrifice our own well-being.
We must fill our own cups first, before tending to others. Just like the oxygen mask on the airplane- put yours’ on first! In a too-fast world we all need help slowing down, going inward, tending to our nervous systems, and replenishing. This is a call to mother the mothers! When mothers feel supported, vibrant, and juicy, our families are healthier. Our babies and children learn to regulate their own nervous systems from our example and the whole world benefits. Taking care of mothers takes care of everyone because we are the ones producing and raising the next generations. This is important work and we can’t do it with empty tanks!
The next round of Mom Village starts this Feb and I hope you will join or share with your moms and friends. I’m not a guru, shaman, or any kind of enlightened being. I’m a tired mom who’s been meditating daily for 17 years. I know deeply in my bones the benefits of mindfulness practices and I cannot imagine contending with all the stresses of parenting without them. These practices are essential for a healthy nervous system, a healthy family, and a healthy world. Spread the word. Here’s to a happy healthy New Year!
Love,
Carol Anne Lesser
