In the middle of the ballroom, friends and family watching, Lisa’s heart raced and she could feel tears welling up. The day of her son’s wedding had finally arrived. And now, for the first time, the truth sank in: her son had grown up. Her role as his mom had changed. She’d had emotional parenting moments before, but this was next level, and so public! Her throat ached and she could hardly breathe. How was she going to get through the Mother-Son dance without making a mess of what was supposed to be a storybook moment? Was it like this for everyone? Why did it look so easy in the movies?

Holding on tightly to her son as they danced, she remembered the giant STOP sign she shows kids when she teaches meditation. She mentally moved through the letters:
S for Stop, T for Take a Breath, O for Observe and P for Proceed. She couldn’t stop, exactly, but she took a deep breath and noticed all the thoughts, emotions and sensations she was experiencing.

The beautiful paradox of mindful meditation is that the small act of noticing what's going on helps us relate more easefully to the moment. As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, awareness has an inherent self-correcting mechanism. When we’re aware that we’re thinking we have the power to see thoughts (“I can’t dance! We didn’t practice enough!”) as just thoughts. We have the power to giggle at them, or offer ourselves some grace. When we turn toward the emotions that are alive in us (the heartache of realizing a child has grown up), they move more easily through us. We can get back to the beauty of the present moment. This is the power of mindful meditation.

Because of Lisa's mindfulness practice, she was able to bring awareness to the thoughts, feelings and sensations she was experiencing. That act of awareness helped her reset how she was relating to the experience. The emotions and thoughts were still there, but she was also able to bask in the moment with her son: awkward dance steps and all.

It's simple, but not easy, and it takes practice. Let's practice together.
Join us for any of our in-person, zoom or phone-in sessions (click here to see all upcoming practice opportunities). We can learn and grow as a community.

Lisa and the Giant Stop Sign