GentleBirth, Gentle Parent, Gentle Life.

                                                                             











GentleBirth, Gentle Parent, Gentle Life.
What does this mean exactly? 
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I'm not saying that in order to be a 'gentle parent' that you need to have a had a GentleBirth or even a positive birth experience but what I am saying is that using the GentleBirth programme during pregnancy and birth definitely ripples into parenting.
There is a certain 'I've got this' attitude and tools to back it up thanks to programme, not only tools designed to support you to have that positive GentleBirth but tools to serve you a lifetime.

The tools I have personally gained from GentleBirth have absolutely changed how I parent, simply by changing how I respond to difficult situations rather than reacting to them. I see things differently now.
I could give you 20+ examples daily of challenging situations because, let's face it, parenthood can be hard sometimes but I won't as this is not Dear Diary!! 

We all know how stressful mornings can be with children, especially if you have some going to school or if you have to be in work. 

Some mornings can go so smooth, you can pause and appreciate all your clean, nicely dressed children as they laugh and chat while eating their nutritious porridge and berries.
You can hear the birds singing as your children have climbed into their car seats and you have 10 minutes to spare so you put on their favourite song and have a huge sing-a-long. 'This' you say to yourself, 'This is what life is all about'.

THEN there are all those other mornings.
You wake up to that inner red siren alarm after seeing the time, you spring to your feet and you suddenly embody the head of the SWAT team.

LETS GO,LETS GO, LETS GO, you have 3 bowls of cereal ready, you are not sure if there is milk or even if there is in fact, cereal in the bowl but god dammit breakfast is served!
You are racing around the kitchen attempting to make the school lunch, time is ticking.

~Only on reflection do you see how instead of being in a stress induced state rushing around are you actually getting good at stress and getting everything ready more efficiently~
 
Your school going son is ready to go and as you finish packing his bag he looks at you and say's 'You got this, Mama'! (My crazy morning Doula!!) 
You haven't had time to think but you stop, you breath and think to yourself 'Yes, I totally have got this, I did it, he will not be late for school' only to realise that sleeping beauty has decided that getting up was on her agenda this morning. 
 
WHAAAAATT!!

You can react to the situation and make your way up the stairs with your footsteps echoing your frustration, the door swinging open.
'You HAVE to get up now. Get dressed and let's go'. 
She looks to see who has disturbed her slumber and wafts you away like an unpleasant smell.

Big Deep Breaths.

She couldn't possibly get dressed either as her favourite outfit is in the wash. 
Yet again, another opportunity to choose to respond or react. 
​When your annoyance begins to surface you can 'reach' into you GentleBirth pregnancy and labour tool-kit and use some techniques such as heart breathing, mindfulness or elements of the sports psychology or some of the other techniques taught at the workshops that would suit you, your child and the particular situation.

Responding to the child, however, would probably have a different outcome.
To respond is to connect with the child, to understand, empathize and respect what they are feeling.
This way will probably save more time too. 

​To react is to act a particular way to a situation which is connecting with the outcome of events rather than with the people around you.

I'm not saying that by doing a workshop that by default you will be a 'gentle parent', what I am saying though, is that you will have the tools to deal with a stressful situation in a responding manner which will leave everyone feeling better. 

When we can approach the stress that may come up in our lives like this, the outcome will have you enjoying so many more moments than if you were to react creating a 'Gentle life'.

An emotionally resilient, confident, respectful and empathetic parent............That's too long!! 
We will just call is 'Gentle parenting' for now.  
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