Meditating while raising kids: 4 things I’ve noticed

When my daughter was about two weeks old I realized that if I didn’t re-implement my daily meditation practice I was going to be ski-wrude with this two kid thing.  I’ve been doing it pretty much every day since.

I’ve noted four things from my practice:

1. While I’m proud of myself, the reality is that some days, (like today) I sit with my eyes closed in meditation position and think about plenty o’ things that aren’t meditative, like for instance what I’m going to say for my stand-up comedy performance tonight…. Still, I don’t feel bad about this. 

2. A daily meditation practice has not prevented me from feeling, at times –perhaps even still daily— ske-wered by this two young kid thing.  It’s hard.

3. I have to police myself because I notice that what starts out as a 20 minute minimum can get to a 5 minute minimum very easily.  Even 5 minutes is good.  But 20 minutes is better.

4. Despite all this—the other random thoughts, the shortening of the time etc.  I notice that starting my morning by sitting alone in my studio for whatever length of time I chose does have a positive impact on my being.  First because, even if sometimes it is just a marker of something that is important to me, having the bookmark constantly in place seems helpful.  Two, even just a moment of being with myself and remembering to relax makes me feel good.  Three, even if the diverging demands of two young kids does drive me bonkers just 20 minutes later, at least I’ve had my 300 seconds of peace!  And tomorrow I’ll have another 300.