Parent to the Sound of Silence!

Date
Jun, 15, 2017
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Noise is pollution to us and our kids and is everywhere all the time. We are getting so used to it that we might not even notice it anymore, we just accept and live with it, all the time! But let us support you to parent to the sounds of silence and in the process of bringing more harmony, peace and happiness into your home.

The world is getting louder partly due to the digital word we live in and the pressure to multitask and always be on the go to be productive! We often don’t have a choice due to the constant noise that we are bombarded with. You just have to walk into any shop, café, restaurant or office and the music meets you straight away and takes away the peace of shopping.

The sad thing is that we are getting used to it, it is becoming an addictive habits that we cannot live without. Kids feel they ‘need’ music on their iPod to do homework, go for a run, fall a sleep, have a shower, sit on the bus etc. Parents feel they have to have the radio, TV on or constantly talking to their kids. We are becoming afraid of silence and feel the need to fill in every gap!

Noise is pollution for us and our kids:

  • It affect ours and our kids sleep, reduces performance, stresses us out, distracts us from what we need to do, makes us hyper, headache inducing, muscle tensing, moody, irritable, aggressive, makes us react quickly and negatively without thinking, can affect the decisions we make in life and in general has an impact on our behaviour and happiness!

So lets try to invite more silence into our family life and start to harvest the huge benefit it brings.

Benefit of silence:

  • Has a calming effect and settles our emotions, we become better listeners and more likely to communicate with people around us (as we can start hearing each other, have a calmer mind and not ‘plug in’ to screens), we relax and can suddenly breathe.
  • It grounds us to the moment and we start enjoying what we are doing (from shopping, cooking, homework to spending time with our kids and reading a book). We find peace and start recharging our energy for when it is needed, start making better decision (as our mind gets a break from all the noise and we can think more clearly and make positive decisions).
  • We get in touch with our feelings and thoughts and can start acting from them, performance increases (kids do better homework). Our kids will be less likely to play up since don’t have the constant noise thrown at them so they can settled down, relax and respond better to our requests.

What we do to create more silence into our home:

  • Be a role model; try to cut noise out of your own life! Turn off your mobile, TV, IPad, Radio, calm down and have more quiet moments in your life and your kids will soon see how calm you become and follow your example.
  • Maybe take up meditation every morning and evening to invite silence and peace into your life.
  • Don’t feel you have to fill in every gap in a conversation or talk to your kids every moment you are together (in the car, eating, playing, bath time etc.). You will be surprised about how much you can communicate in silence with your body ‘language’.
  • Just be together in same room (or car or garden etc.) and physical and mentally be connected without bombarding them with questions about their day, planning of tomorrow or throwing a constant storm of demands and nagging at them. Just be silent, together!
  • Turn off (or not turn on) the general noise in your home: radio, TV etc. Even try to turn off the internet and feel the silence that comes to you – ahh.
  • Make sure you eat, do homework, cook, play etc. without background noise (if you feel the need to have some music choose soft classical music).
  • No screen in bed rooms. Electronical devices with self-luminous backlit displays can cause melatonin levels to drop, making it much harder to fall asleep. Remember, a good morning starts the night before!
  • Don’t be afraid to limit your kids screen time and allow space for other values in their life such as homework, reading, outside play, time with you, reading, chores or simply boredom! (CLICK here for events of managing screen time)
  • Set aside meditation time where you and your child can be grounded and connect. Click here to read about grounding techniques for you and your child
  • Silence in the car. We don’t need to have the radio on all the time, drive in silence and bring peace to your head to have a calm start to the day!
  • Be comfortable around silence. Throughout the day, try to create moments when you are together and there is just silence. You can cook, drive, eat, play – it is OK to be together, connected in mind and body and not talking! Remember your child has been in school, college, and nursery the whole day and might just need a silent time out!

We wish you a happy and silent family life.

 

Parenting Success

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