The Conscious Parent

Traditionally parenthood has been exercised in a manner that’s hierarchical. The parent governs from the top down.

Rather, understanding the ramifications of unconsciousness and becoming aware of its consequences can motivate a person to embark on the penetrating self-examination that’s required to become an effective parent. In this your children are your allies, as they repeatedly mirror aspects of your unconsciousness, affording you opportunity after opportu

I don’t wish to imply that the ego is “bad” and shouldn’t exist. On the contrary, the ego in and of itself is neither good nor bad: it just is. It’s a stage in our development that serves a purpose much like the eggshell in which a chick forms until it hatches. The eggshell has a role to play during the chick’s formation. However, were the shell to

Parenting is a journey that tends to begin with a high level of egoic narcissism, an energy we take into our relationship with our child. The consequence is that we can easily, though in many cases inadvertently, fall into the trap of using our children to fill some need in ourselves, all the while under the illusion that we are loving, giving of o

For this reason, the parenting experience isn’t one of parent versus child but of parent with child.

A certain child enters our life with its individual troubles, difficulties, stubbornness, and temperamental challenges in order to help us become aware of how much we have yet to grow. The reason this works is that our children are able to take us into the remnants of our emotional past and evoke deeply unconscious feelings. Consequently, to unders

It’s helpful to ask ourselves, “What is my parenting mission, my parenting philosophy? How do I manifest this in my everyday interaction with my child? Have I mapped out a thoughtful, mindful mission, as I would were I running a major organization?”

the relationship between parent and child exists for the primary purpose of the parent’s transformation and only secondarily for the raising of the child.

Only to the degree we as parents are attuned to our own being will we know how to help our children attune themselves to their unique essence.

Even when we are called upon to discipline, consciousness shows us how to do so in a manner that bolsters our child’s spirit rather than diminishing it.