As a mindfulness teacher, I’d love to see time-outs as a thing of the past and time-in’s be the mode of choice to help children deal with tantrums and breakdowns.
But before we can implement time-in’s with our kids, we gotta learn how to model it ourselves first.
So what does a “Time-In” look like?
Next time your stress gives you unpleasant thoughts “My kids are driving me crazy!! I’m not cut out to be a mother! or anything else your monkey mind says, it can be turned into “I’m just having a bad moment right now. Let me ride this through until it passes.”
You can try a “TIME IN” technique instead of letting yourself get consumed with stress, anger or anxiety.
It’s simple all you gotta do is stop whatever you’re doing and walk away. Don’t allow yourself to say or do anything that you will later regret.
You can always come back to a conversation that needs to be had later. Just say “I just need to cool down, Let’s talk about this later”
Then choose one of the following activities and give yourself a “TIME-IN”
1. Look out the window and notice the sky, trees, rain, the sun
2. Step outside for a moment and breathe in fresh air
3. Splash cold water on your face
4. Drink a cold glass of water and sip it slowly
5. Eat something crunchy like a crisp carrot- this releases tension be careful with this one: a box of Oreo’s would fit the bill too and not so great of an idea.
6. Go into another room and do 30 jumping jacks
7. Walk into another room, breathe deeply through your nose and out your mouth. Mentally repeat – peace begins with me.
Sometimes it may take you a minute to calm down other times it may take longer. Doing something outside your norm is a great way to break your normal patterns of just snapping when you feel triggered.
Time in’s are not about being a pushover or complacent to others negative behaviors It’s about knowing that true wisdom can only come from a calm mind and giving ourselves that break and time to clear our mind instead of reacting is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and our family – peace in our homes, heart, and mind.
Now, I’d love to hear from you.
Remember insight without practice is meaningless. So tell me which one of the tools you’re going to commit to practicing for the next 7 days?
Thank you so much for reading, watching, sharing and adding your wisdom to the conversation. You make my world.
Sending you all my love,
P.S. Loved today’s blog? Then share it with your mama friends, soul sisters and your even your own mama — anyone you think would find value from this kind of actionable wisdom as they try to become a better person each and every day.