A Man in A Women's World
I had lunch with a friend the other day, and we talked about my recent post on mindful awareness. We discussed how, at the end of a long day, walking into a home filled with family can sometimes feel overwhelming and even triggering. For me, it’s the shift from “work mode” to “mom mode,” with little hands grabbing at me, making their demands. My friend’s experience, while rooted in a similar emotion, was different. He’s a man, a father, and a husband, and his children are older—basically almost adults. For him, the transition was about navigating energy dynamics; his household, made up of his wife and two daughters, felt like walking into a wall of strong feminine energy.
Awareness is the first step to being a mindful parent.
I want to start by saying that I was you, I am you, and I continue to be a human parent with all the emotions that come with it. What I can tell you is that when I began to engage in mindfulness practices (yes, I’ll explain that), became more embodied (don’t worry, I’ll break this down too), and learned to control my breath, a fundamental shift occurred. I re-calibrated how I reacted and how I felt about myself as a mother.