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��MBSR for Parents��Week one��Automatic Pilot Parenting

“E hara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari i tetoa takitini”

“My strength comes not only from myself alone, but from those on the journey with me”

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THEME��Automatic Pilot �Parenting

  • MINDFULNESS
    • Body Scan - using body sensations as an anchor in the present moment
    • Mindful eating
  • PARENTING
    • Moving from ‘doing’ mode to ‘being’ mode
    • Parenting on automatic pilot
    • Mindful parenting and stress
  • NEURODIVERGENCE
    • Interoception

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Agenda

Karakia and Intentions

Introductions and Practicalities

Mindful Eating & Discussion

BREAK

Morning Stress Exercise & Discussion

Body Scan & Discussion

Home Practice

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Karakia

Āio ki te rangi

Āio ki te papa

Āio ki te māuri o ngā mea katoa

Āio Māuri Ora

Peace to the sky; peace to all that is above

Peace to the earth; peace to all that is below

Peace to the life essence of all things in between

Peace to – the breath of life

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Pair �Introductions��(3 mins each)

Your Name

Where you are from and where you live now

Family – who do you parent with?

Children and diagnoses

Intentions and hopes for the course

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Whole Group �Introductions�(one minute!)

Your Name

Family – who do you parent with?

Children and diagnoses

One word or sentence on your Intention for the course

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Group Guidelines

Confidentiality

    • Respect for each person’s own journey
    • Focus is on your experience of mindfulness, not problem solving for specific child issues

No advice giving ☺

    • Responding to invitations to share

Self Care & Neuroaffirming

    • One person speaking at a time

Mindful Listening and Mindful Speaking

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Group Guidelines

    • Learning through own experience - practice

Experiential Learning

    • Available for contact during the week by phone or email

Communication with Teachers

    • Mute when not speaking
    • Video on or off?

Zoom Use

Eight weeks of practice supported by a weekly class ☺

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Mindful Eating - Connecting with Senses

Visual (Sight)

Auditory (Hearing)

Gustatory (Taste)

Tactile (Touch)

Olfactory (Smell)

Vestibular (Balance & Movement)

Proprioception (Body Awareness and Coordination)

Interoception (Inside our body)

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What is Mindfulness?

Mindful Awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, without judgment.

It’s like training a muscle – we are training the muscle of ‘attention’ through Mindfulness practice

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Morning Stress Exercise

Body Sensations

Thoughts

Emotions

Action Tendencies

Tummy clenched, chest tightening, nausea

“I hate my life, it’s not fair”

Why me?

Frustrating,

Sad - here we are again

Volcano response

Throw a tantrum

“How do I fix it”

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The Body Scan & Interoception Sense

Visual (Sight)

Auditory (Hearing)

Gustatory (Taste)

Tactile (Touch)

Olfactory (Smell)

Vestibular (Balance & Movement)

Proprioception (Body Awareness and Coordination)

Interoception (Inside our body)

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Interoception is the sense of knowing what is happening ‘inside’ our bodies

Good interoception awareness is when a person can feel the inside of their body with high accuracy AND know what their body needs

Interoceptive Awareness can be challenging among ADHD and Autistic people

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Interoception and Emotional Regulation

“we need to know what emotion we are feeling in order to regulate it. We could be taught hundreds of coping strategies but it is not until we have a clear indicator of when to use a strategy and which strategy is the best match for the emotion at hand we can learn emotional regulation”

Kelly Mahler, MS, OTR / L

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The Body Scan�

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Experiencing: BEING MODE

Sensory/Perceptual system:

Senses: Seeing, Tasting, Touching, Hearing, Smelling

A sense of the internal state of your body

Awareness of your body in space

Conceptualizing: THINKING MODE

Verbal/Conceptual system:

Analysing

Planning

Elaborating

Goal-Setting

Problem-Solving

Predicting

Judging

Remembering

Self-Reflecting

Awareness of body, mood, thoughts. Open, curious

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Experiencing: BEING MODE

Sensory/Perceptual system:

Senses: Seeing, Tasting, Touching, Smelling

A sense of the internal state of your body

Awareness of your body in space

Conceptualizing: Stress

Default: Unhelpful thoughts, Overthinking, Autopilot

Verbal/Conceptual system:

Analysing

Planning

Elaborating

Goal-Setting

Problem-Solving

Predicting

Judging

Remembering

Self-Reflecting

Self Criticism

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Home practice�

Mindfulness practice

  • Daily body scan 10 mins
  • Mindful Eating - eat one meal mindfully

Mindful Parenting

  • “child as a raisin”
  • Read handouts

Neurodivergent Education

  • Interoception

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The Secret of Mindfulness Practice

Do little and often – short practice daily, rather than long practice

01

If you practice when it’s easy, it’s easier when it’s hard

02

The more you practice the more likely you are to practice

03

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Clearing�By Martha Postlewaite�

Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create a clearing

In the dense forest of your life

And wait there patiently,

Until the song that is your life, falls into your own cupped hands

And you recognize and greet it.

Only then will you know

How to give yourself

To this world

So worthy of rescue.