Ahimsa in the rain

I have been a little tentative about how to breathe ‘Ahimsa’ (non violence)* into parenting… Simply because Mabon, being a super savvy 5 year old has recently detected moral or ‘spiritual’ lingo as different from the normal practical interactions we have:

            ‘Oh mummy, why do you have to talk about love, again….’

(Visualise shrugged shoulders, eyes lifted dourly to the heavens… Quite frankly I felt busted!)

I took this as a sign that a) I seem to have a teenager on my hands aged 5 and b) maybe I have been approaching conscious parenting too consciously.... as if loving behaviour is separate from our natural state of being! I.e. Ease off the philosophical conversations and embody more what I wanted to grow in our lives; to learn together through playing and doing, without commentary.

One aspect of ahimsa is sensitivity. Most parents or carers will find our key work is listening and helping children express their emotions, then becoming aware of others’ feelings and the outer environment. Sensitivity also enables us to joyfully engage the senses, which are so alive in children. Yesterday it rained for the first time in 4 months in Goa. Not just a little rain; but torrential, thundering, wind-swept tropical rain. Mabon woke early to the sound of an apocalyptic drumming on the tin roof. I have been aiming to bring more softness into my reactions as a mother, so when he woke ‘too early’, instead of fearing this would mean tiredness and grumps, I turned my focus to where the delight could be had in this situation! Led by Mabon’s curiosity we headed straight out into the rain in our pyjamas to feel the rain on our skin and get a ‘nature shower’.

It turned out to be the most beautiful morning in ages. Mabon played making rivers for his toys to swim in, and putting his sand bucket windmill under the shower tipping off the roof. We stood back and watched the roof and trees steam in the heat once the rain stopped, watching all the water energy transform magically back into steam/air. This morning truly helped me connect ahimsa to the element of water, carrying the message of ‘going with the flow.’ As I know from practising yoga, all pain comes from resistance, and ahimsa is the quality that steers and lifts us from pain and into gentle love.  Swimming with the river… and the rain, has been the image bobbing in my head all week; to softly accept every situation and emotion just as it is, in myself, and Mabon. 

* non violence, non harming, Yama no. 1, Yoga Sutras: see previous post