A 6 week course for parents called Nurturing Parents a Mindfulness-based Wellbeing for Parents took place at our Royston Family Support Group over the Autumn term.
The course was funded by The Friends of Royston & District Healthcare and delivered to parents by Karima Tasker from the Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living.
Mindfulness draws us away from operating on ‘automatic pilot’, which can mean that we can miss a lot of life’s pleasures, as we aren’t always fully aware of the situation we’re in. A bit like when you arrive somewhere in the car, yet can’t remember any of the journey – where you passed, turned, other cars you encountered.
Busy lives mean people are juggling work, household tasks, managing relationships, parenting and all other number of things in order to get everything done. But sometimes this means that although we may be present with our children, we are not actually listening to them, not really focused.
The six week course helped parents to learn about what mindfulness is and how it can be incorporated into their daily lives. It supported a shift in thinking, focusing on being kind to ourselves, recognising positive qualities and acknowledging that we are ‘good enough’. By doing so parents are teaching their children to do the same, fostering positive self-esteem and confidence in their children. The course supported parents to step back and consider their parenting styles, where certain aspects had come from and how our own childhood experiences can affect the way we parent our children. It helped parents to learn about developing skills around patience, kindness and acceptance and by practising this when parenting their own children, particularly when things are challenging can really help to solve difficulties in a calmer and far less stressful way.
One parent said:
“This week my daughter had a strop and usually this would have made me react and shout, but I was able to use the techniques I’ve learnt to stay calm and deal with the situation.”
A big thank you to The Friends Of Royston & District Healthcare as well as the Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living for working together with us to deliver this invaluable training to some of the families that we support.