Episode 195
Do you tend to bounce from one thing to the next throughout your homeschooling day without ever pausing to take a breath? In this episode of the Art of Homeschooling Podcast, I encourage you to create a simple plan to pause and reflect each day to reconnect with your homeschooling purpose.
Parenting and homeschooling can be a lot. But mindlessly checking things off the list all day, going through the motions without purpose or mindfulness, can create little micro-anxieties all day long. And even cause a sense of disconnect with those around us.
The act of intentionally pausing to become present, get quiet, and reflect is known as inner work. And as a homeschooling mom, I’ve found it to be a really powerful practice.
The simplest way to include a few minutes of inner work in your daily rhythm without feeling like it’s just another thing on your to-do list is to bookend your day with a simple inner work practice.
And I’m going to give you some simple suggestions, an example to inspire you, and a few resources to explore.
So press play and listen in to reconnect with your homeschooling purpose by taking time to pause and reflect.
Why is Inner Work so Powerful?
To start out, I want to share with you some of the many benefits of inner work and reflection.
Here are some of the many benefits of pausing. Inner work…
- Gives you more self-control over your thinking
- Increases your ability to take initiative
- Helps you gain equanimity which really means quieting your reactive emotions
- Helps you increase positivity
- Inspires you to be more open-minded
- Leads to experiencing more harmony
- Enables you to be interested in and curious about the world
- Prevents growing stale, sour, or cynical about the world
What homeschooling parent wouldn’t want these things for themselves!
Sounds so good, doesn’t it?
It just takes some intention and daily commitment.
So let’s talk about what this might look like in real life.
Simple Inner Work Practices to Reconnect with Your Homeschooling Purpose
I suggest you carve out some time at the beginning and end of each day to pause and reflect.
Here are just a few ideas to choose from for creating your own inner work practice.
And there are so many more, so don’t feel limited if these ideas don’t resonate with you. Inner work is very personal and unique to each of us.
MORNING INNER WORK IDEAS
- Light a beeswax candle
- Sip your favorite warm beverage
- Do a short breathing practice
- Listen to a guided meditation
- Read something inspiring, thought-provoking, or reflective
- Recite a verse to yourself
EVENING INNER WORK IDEAS
- Gratitude journaling
- Brain-dump journaling
- Reading a novel
- Praying for or meditating on each of your children
- Head-to-toe body scan meditation
Daily Reading as an Inner Work Ritual
As an example of a simple inner work ritual, I have a wonderful passage to share with you. This reading comes from a little book called The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents by William Martin.
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The book has short numbered passages that are one to two pages long, making it perfect for reading just one a day as a simple inner work ritual.
27. Fan the Spark
Your children plan their own education,
like it or not.
You must learn to cooperate with that plan.
If they are drawing,
they become artists.
If they are reading,
they become students.
If they are investigating something,
they become scientists.
If they are helping prepare a meal,
they become chefs.
Whatever they are doing,
they are learning
And it is, for them,
pure joy.
***
Can you refrain from judging their interests?
Can you give them room to explore?
Schools do not often do this.
You may be the only one
who can fan the spark of their creativity
into a flame of joy.
***
A TIME TO PAUSE
Pause for a moment right now, as you’re reading or listening to reconnect with your homeschooling purpose. How would it feel to start an ordinary homeschooling day with the inspiring thoughts in this passage, Fan the Spark?
What a beautiful reminder that as parents, as homeschooling parents in particular, we are in a unique position to help our children discover their interests, find their creativity, and fan that spark. After all, our real goal in the end is to help our children discover their gifts and then go out and share them with the world.
Do you see how these quiet little moments of reading something like this can help you feel more centered, more present with your children, and remember that sense of conviction that brought you to homeschool in the first place?
This is your gentle reminder as you start off a new homeschool year or wherever you are in your year, to plan a little something each day just for YOU.
So you can pause each day and be purposeful in practicing a little inner work to be more open-minded and gain equanimity.
In addition to The Parent’s Tao Te Ching, I have two other books with daily readings that have inspired me through the years. One is Daily Affirmations for Parents and the other, Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much.
Pause & Reflect Each Day
Inner work really can be simple and doable.
A consistent daily practice can build into a powerful practice to help you reconnect with your homeschooling purpose and stay the course as a homeschooling parent.
Here’s my simple framework to bookend your day with inner work:
- At the beginning of the day with a morning beverage, read an inspirational passage.
- At the end of the day, write three things you’re grateful for in a journal you keep by your bed.
And that, my friend, is how we keep things simple, inspiring, and doable around here at the Art of Homeschooling.
Kind Words for the Art of Homeschooling
Kind words for last week’s episode, #194: Don’t Forget to Let the Learning Rest ~
“Thank you so very much for this Jean. I cannot tell you how much this resonates with me for my children. And how affirming it is to hear this from YOU, thus strengthening that voice of mother’s intuition on what is best for her children.”
~Taylor
You can now leave me a message on Buzzsprout, the hosting platform for this podcast. Your messages inspire me and help me to bring you the content you need to keep your homeschooling simple, doable, and inspired!
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