Meditations for Mother's Day
Affirmations and Grief
Yesterday I wrote about my own fraught relationship with Mother’s Day since becoming a mother and since losing my mother, which included a Mother’s Day blessing.
As a bonus, today I would like to offer you two meditations I created. One is an affirmation meditation for mothers. The other is a meditation on the loss and grief of losing my mother. If you are a mom or have lost your mom, may they support you. Please share with a mom you know or anyone who has lost their mom who the meditation might benefit.
Affirmation Meditation - A Love Letter to Mommas
This meditation was crowdsourced through members of the Mindful MommaStrong Facebook group, and created for MommaStrong bonus content in April 2020, in the early stages of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I asked the mommas what affirmations they most needed to hear, and this meditation weaves them together. Thank you to the Mindful MommaStrong community for its co-creation.
Momma, we see you. This is a love letter from other mommas like you.
We see you and all the hard work you do. You are doing an amazing job.
You are doing your best, and your best is enough. You are enough.
Whatever you are feeling right now is OK. You are not alone.
There are so many other mothers in the world right now feeling exactly the way you are feeling, whatever that is.
How you feel matters too.
It is OK to relax. You can relax right now. You are calm. You are safe. You can safely allow your emotions to flow through you.
You are doing your best, and it’s OK to make mistakes. You can forgive yourself for any mistakes, knowing you were doing the best you could at the time.
You are doing the best you can right now, and that is enough. You make the best choices you can for your family and their needs and your needs. It’s ok if your choices look different from the choices other families make.
You are a calm parent. You act from love. You are the mother your children need. You are the best momma to your children.
You are not responsible for the rest of the world, others’ reactions or others’ happiness.Â
You are strong, you are resilient. Your body is strong and resilient.
You are kind. You are a good and loving mother. You are loved.
You have overcome many obstacles, and you will get through whatever you are going through right now. Everything changes, and this will change, too.
You are so capable. You are already doing it.
You, as much as anyone else in the whole universe, deserve your own love and affection.
You are enough. We see you. You are loved.
We are in this together.
With love from other mommas
A meditation for Mom (on grief/loss)
This was a meditation I wrote for my mom last year - a year after she died - in the style of the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. I almost didn’t record it, because I knew I would not have optimal conditions to record it - I am a mom, and finding quiet is nearly impossible. And then I decided that is the realness of the recording :) You can hear some background noise, like the insects of the Costa Rican nighttime soundscape, and you can hear Daphne at some point in the recording if you are listening closely. I hope they add to your experience of meditating with me in my kitchen on a Saturday evening :)
Breathing in, breathing with mom,
Breathing out, breathing for mom.
(Breathing with mom, breathing for mom)
Breathing in, feeling my whole body.
Breathing out, feeling mom’s presence in every cell of my body.
(Whole body, feeling mom’s presence)
Breathing in, touching my joy.
Breathing out, feeling mom in my joy, mom’s joy in my joy.
(Touching my joy, feeling mom in my joy)
Breathing in, touching my grief that you are no longer here in your physical body.
Breathing out, holding my grief tenderly.
(Touching my grief, holding it tenderly)
Breathing in, I feel your continuation in me, that I am your continuation, that you are still here in so many ways.
Breathing out, I touch the many ways you continue on.
(Your continuation in me, many ways you continue)
Breathing in, I know you are there still.
Breathing out, I am so happy you are there.
(You are there, I am so happy)
Thank you, dear friend, for meditating with me! I hope you feel supported through this practice. May it be of benefit to all mothers, and all beings, everywhere <3
