Practical Meditation for Moms

It is hard enough to take a shower - let alone find some quiet time to think or pray - if you are a mother. Especially if you are a mother of small children. I learned this early on in my role as a mom, but just as quickly as I watched my personal time slip away from me, I learned how to take some back just for me - just for my sanity.

Meditation can be prayer or simply quiet thought, delving into pleasant memories or considering all that you are thankful for. For years, medical and psychological professionals have proven the helpful effects of meditation on the brain, the heart, and other vital organs. But to meditate, one does not have to be a member or practitioner of any Eastern religion. A conservative Baptist and a Reformed Jew can both have as deep a meditative experience as her Hindu counterpart.

Webster defines meditation as "...to engage in mental exercise...". This can be done just about anywhere, even for a few moments. Here are some excellent suggestions for place to quietly exercise your tired mom-brain:

Walking Meditation: Take a short, casual walk - breathing in the scents and smells around you. Absorb all the light from the sun available to you, feel the softly falling rain from the sky. Connect with nature, just as you would connect with your Creator. Be careful to note how you breath - you shouldn't be out of breath or panting. It should be as easy to do this kind of enjoyable walk as it is to go to sleep on a lazy afternoon. Let yourself begin to relax more with each step. If there is a particular blessing or prayer request you are focusing on, repeat it with block you glide over, with each hill you climb.

Running: I have a friend who, in a desperation to quick smoking and loose weight, took up running. And soon the girl who spent most of the day on her couch in front of the TV was now running the Baltimore Marathon. It is possible to enjoy running. Do it for the fun of it, the way you ran as a kid. Run away from your problems, your street for a few moments. It is the one time you are allowed to do so. Imagine them falling off the back of your shoulders, and even if you cannot picture a solution - trust that it will come. Be open to answers.

Lying on the Grass: Go to your backyard, your favorite park, and just lie on the grass. Feel the prickly bed of freshly cut lawn or the cool shade of the tree over the sharp blades. Breathe in its scent. Memorize it. Recall the scent during a time of stress, and you will immediately have something pleasant for your mind to grab hold of - even in a tense situation. Fall asleep there if you like. It's your time.

Swinging: The first time I sat on the swing as an adult, I had completely forgotten the utter abandon swinging encouraged. For a few short moments only (because I get motion sickness), I swung back and forth remembering as a child how I used to feel as though I was flying. I lost my stomach for a moment in the air. You can do the same. Even just a moment of it can cure an entire bad afternoon - or at least - the bad attitude that comes with it.

Cup of Coffee Alone: Get up early, sneak into the kitchen when baby is asleep, turn the ringer off the phone, and curl up on the couch, in your favorite rocking chair by an open window - and relearn how to enjoy a cup of your favorite joe in peaceful silence. Here, you can even speak your prayers aloud. Who will know? Purchase a brand just for this occasion, and enjoy.

There are so many other non-traditional ways of meditating - by focusing on the birch trees across the street, by silently watching the snow fall, in the empty pew of your church. Just find time each day to be quiet before your Creator and relearn what it means to be created again. Even a busy mom can do this, and especially, a busy mom needs to.