You're on a Journey, Too

Episode 72

The path that you travel as a homeschooling parent often calls on you to go inward and shine a light on your own inner landscape. Because you’re on a journey, too!

This is truth, my friend!

And in this episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast, I share my thoughts about mindset on the homeschooling journey. It’s a pep talk to encourage you to give your own growth and development some attention.

Press play above to get started listening and you’ll find highlights, links, and suggested resources below.

Why Mindset Matters

In my reading, I’ve heard that progress is 80% mindset. Some even say 90%!

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins says this of success: “I’ve found it’s 80 percent psychology and 20 percent skills.”

As homeschoolers, we can so often lose confidence and get bogged down by feelings of inadequacy along the way. Especially if we tend to over-complicate our planning and teaching, struggle to keep our daily rhythm simple, or feel perpetually behind in our lessons.

If you can relate, know that you are not alone!

It’s really important to acknowledge that how we show up for our children and family is tied to our mindset, our thoughts, and our feelings.

We can become so focused on the outward actions of homeschooling. Things like purchasing and preparing curriculum, planning lessons, and engaging our children in meaningful and memorable activities. And these are all important!

But it’s our inner landscape, our mindset, that shapes our day to day actions.

And in order to do this very important work in the world of homeschooling, we must strengthen our inner forces, build our confidence, and develop a growth mindset for the journey.

Inner work can even help us stay grounded when life is uncertain or the world seems like a scary place.

The path is inward, my friend.

You’re on a Journey, Too

Listen in to this episode for a deep dive into the inner work journey of homeschooling.

As one of the past participants in my Inner Work Journey group said, “I feel like I have a lot of luggage to unpack.”

On my own homeschooling journey, I eventually came to a place where I knew I couldn’t keep ignoring myself in the day to day of homeschooling. I knew I wanted to be more mindful, more present, and better able to ride the wave of the daily ups and downs. And somehow, what I came to realize was that it wasn’t going to be a quick fix!

I realized that this might be a lifetime of work. And a lifetime of practice.

Here are just a few of my favorite inner work practices that I’ve used to nourish my inner self through the years.

Nourishing Inner Work Practices for Your Journey

There are many, many ways to practice inner work and mindset. In the episode, I share just a few that have worked for me on the homeschooling journey.

But the key is really the word practice. It’s daily practice that guides us and shapes us into the parents we want to be. So that we can stay strong for our children and family.

A daily inner work practice might include:

Listening to chanting or beautiful music with uplifting lyrics
Listening to guided meditations each day
Reading and memorizing poetry (one of my favorite practices!)
Spending time in nature
Practicing acceptance of the full range of your human emotions

I hope this episode has given you some ideas about why and how to craft an inner work practice for yourself!

Because your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have.

I honestly believe that we are all a part of something bigger than we know. And that we can find joy in this homeschooling and parenting journey. It’s the best path of self-development I know of!

Inner Work Journey

My Inner Work Journey was created with this idea at its core. Inner Work Journey is a group I lead every spring for parents who want to experience more acceptance and possibility. And we get to practice in a community so that we can share our struggles and progress. We start on the Equinox. Check out all the details here.

More Resources to Boost Your Inner Work Practice

Here’s an article from my blog archives about searching for homeschool inspiration, Inspiration Overwhelm.

And you may also like this article, 7 Mantras for Homeschooling Parents.

In the podcast archives, you’ll find these three inspiring episodes:

Equanimity is Our Goal as Homeschooling Parents

How to Face Your Homeschooling Fears

Starting Where You Are Each Time

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