Meditation: A Solution to Being Triggered By Our Kiddos

Finding Calm in the Chaos of Parenting

My meditation story starts with my kiddos. When my kids fight, I get triggered. Suddenly it takes everything in me to NOT respond with equal anger and aggression. Luckily enough, I know that would not help.

For years, I could not handle my triggers. Something would happen with the kids and it would be almost as if they hit my big red button. Next thing I know I’m losing it and I’m yelling. Which I hate doing!

I would be flooded with big emotions. I couldn’t think straight.

I hated it. It was so painful…

….. but I didn’t know how to make it stop.

Discovering a Solution

In the book Happy Parents, Peaceful Kids by Dr. Laura Markham, I read about a magic “pill” that promises to help with stress, improve mood, and reduce anxiety. The best part is it just takes 30 minutes to take this magic “pill.”

She was speaking about meditation.

I had experimented with meditation on and off for several years, I knew the research was solid, and that meditation had awesome benefits if I could just get myself to sit down and do it.

How Meditation Transformed My Parenting

Then one day it happened. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was exhausted from emotional pain and wanted relief so I got serious about meditating. After about 30 days of being consistent with meditating (five days a week for 30 minutes each day) I began to experience relief.

It felt like magic. I was doing lots of other helpful things by that point but meditation specifically helped expand my window of tolerance. It seemed to shrink my big red button. I could still get triggered, but it happened way less often. The emotional experiences I was traversing daily also became more manageable.

Thought for the day: Meditation is a Solution

For years when something happened, it felt like being thrown into an ocean in a storm, not knowing, which way was up, no escape, my body filled with panic or rage.

With meditation, it felt more like big waves. I felt the feelings and their momentum, but I wasn’t underwater, and I had a safe route to the beach.

The light in me sees the light in you,