Parents and family are the first teachers of a child. Directly or otherwise, a child internalizes most anything that she/he experiences in his family including their thoughts and behavior and in general, their way of life.
In short, parents are the mentors for their children. They guide each step of their child’s developing stages. That makes it vital for parents to become more aware as human beings. This is true especially when the parents are keen on bringing about a drastic change in their children’s behavior.
In short, parents are themselves the answer to bringing about any change that they are seeking in their children. So time and again, as parents, we are all required to first look within and ask ourselves some fundamental questions. Indeed, we all know that human life is never so simple! Often there is so much that happens that is beyond our control and we are left helpless, wishing we could all lead more agreeable lives.
That is why Touching Lives has started a wonderful initiative for the children and their parents, The Care Program, to focus on providing hands-on tools that help them lead a better life. Together, we work on developing a conscious connection with our birth, nature and body intelligence. It is an initiative to bring consciousness and healthy relationships into our lives.
Understanding the Challenges of Growing Up
During one-on-one sessions, children often share how they feel when their parents do not understand, appreciate or support them. The parents on the other hand, also shared a similar experience – a lack of support. There was no one to tell them that it’s okay to be you. That they may come to love and to appreciate themselves too, for who they truly are.
Lack of support and understanding impacted their ability to trust themselves and their children. Additionally, they must also cope with their responsibilities of parenting, earning a living, and so on. Along with that, unconsciously, the thoughts that arise due to societal conditioning, take them even further from happiness.In short, their circumstances are not conducive to provide for their own emotional and spiritual needs, let alone those of their family.
Holistically, I realized that in order to heal a child it is also necessary that their parents heal as well. If the parents are more conscious and aware of themselves, the energy of love, peace and care ripples into their family.
The First Step
Our first parent healing workshop was called VIBRATIONAL HEALERS and our mission was,
‘Every parent who is a part of this workshop can actually be a healer for other parents in the community and spread it all over.’
We wanted the parents to experience the joy of ‘me-time’ and self-reflection. We wanted to sensitize them on how holding thoughts within, affects the body. And that therefore it is important to work on self and have a meaningful ‘connection’ with the world and the self.
After these sessions a lot of children were happy to notice the shift in their mothers and also shared with us that they find their mothers to be happier, more peaceful and calmer.
When I was conducting the session I actually felt a motherly loving energy where I was just available to play with them, laugh with them, and help them see how strong they are and how important they are for this universe.
Touching Lives’ Care Program continues to conduct varied healing workshops for all children and their parents throughout the year. Our healing workshops are tailor made to suit the varied needs of the children enrolled in the different learning programs that we run here at our learning center. We are also conducting parents quarterly healing workshops every two/three months and interacting with them closely to create a system of support and care.
Rubina Khan heads the Care Program of Touching Lives. She designs and conducts workshops for parents as well as children of Touching Lives, thus working to bring a shift in their families and helping them become more aware human beings.