Staying Mindful As a New Mom

By: Dominica Morris

How do you stay mindful as a new mom? How do you stay mindful as a mom of a 10 monthold? To be completely honest with you, you don’t. I don’t, and to be honest with you again I am a work in progress. When I first started this blog I was in grad school working 3 jobs and feeling overworked and overwhelmed, I thought I had it hard then but nothing can compare to being a parent. I’ve always heard this before, but never understood till now. I do find the time to practice my mindfulness routines. It’s not as frequent as it used to be, but there are still glimpses in my day where I work on being fully present where I am at that moment. During these times I feel the most at ease, and complete happiness letting go of all worries and fears. I want to share them with you, because I know that so many new and old parents get lost in the day to day shuffle of wrangling kids, marriage, and a busy household.

Morning Coffee

I have the privilege to work from home and I try to not take this for granted. In the past drinking my morning coffee was done during my commute, so I appreciate being able to do this from the comfort of my home now. When I first started working from home I would lug Carter on my lap, open my laptop, sip my coffee and get to work. If you’re a parent you can probably picture it, Carter grabbing for my mug, slamming on my keyboard, while I try to wrangle him away in time to type up my email. It wasn’t fun and by the end of it all I was frustrated and exhausted. I said enough is enough, stopped doing this. I wanted to be fully present while drinking my coffee. Every morning I take the time to sit outside in my backyard, coffee in hand and Carter in tow, and enjoy my morning joe (not trying to rhyme here). I will spend this time quietly enjoying my time with Carter, playing, snuggling, and bonding. Being fully present in that morning. My husband Caleb will join us and it’s such a beautiful time that we get to spend as a family, before the day to day craziness begins.

Daily Shower Meditations

When we first brought Carter home from the hospital it was a whirlwind of emotions and new experiences. He wouldn’t sleep in his bassinett nor his crib, so we would take turns holding him at night, on top of that I felt that I was attached to a breast pump 8 to 10 times a day and my body started to stop feeling like my own. The only way I was able to get away for a while was when I took a shower. So, I made it a habit to do a shower meditation every day at the same time. My showers became a place of calm to me and they became something that I could look forward to when things got hectic. I still do my shower meditations from time to time and they always put me in good place. Here’s a beautiful shower meditation from Karen Salmansohn.

Night Time Feeding Snuggles

Oh how I used to dread Carter waking up in the middle of the night. Especially during sleep regression. But I came to realize that he is only going to stay this little for a short amount of time, and one day he will be so big that he won’t want me hold him and snuggle him to sleep. When I think about that it puts these moments into perspective. For one it reminds me that this too shall pass, and for two it’s to be grateful and mindful of these precious moments I know I will one day miss. I’ve learned that when I sit with him at night rocking him to sleep to fully immerse myself in the moment. I will take the time to study his little face, hands, and feet, and be in awe that we’ve created this little human who has turned our life completely upside down but also so much happier.