Mindful Parenting with the Conscious Connection

I recieved the following ecourse at a discount to help faciliate my review; however, all opinions remain my own. For more information, see my full disclosure policy.

I always knew I wanted to use a gentle approach to my parenting. I purused pinterest for hours and read a ton of books during my first pregnancy (indeed, I actually have several gentle parenting pinterest boards on Pinterest!)

There’s a lot of information out there; it’s hard to find a starting point. I often found myself in information overload – where do I begin? I’d often start with articles focusing on the toddler and infant stage, but would quickly get distracted by a different article (maybe this will come in handy some day?), and soon wouldn’t remember what I had been reading in the first place.

I needed something more structured. Something that had a definite order.

The Conscious Connection is an ecourse created by Jessica Killebrew and Amanda McQueen in joint collaboration as part of The Mind Body Mama. It focuses on conscious parenting and family wholeness. It is divided up into three sections (Mindfulness Based Parenting, Relationhip Based Parenting, and Parenting the Whole child) which can be purchased either by themselves, or all together as a bundle. Also available is Meditations for parents and guided imagery for children (included in the bundle).

The sections are then divided up into modules, which are divided into units. They can be taken in any order, although many of the units build upon the previous unit’s information. If you’re someone overwhelmed with the amount of information out there, you may find it the most beneficial to take everything in order (I sure did!)

Mindfulness Based Parenting

“Mindfulness simply means paying attention with a certain quality of focus. It is observing, or being with, whatever we are bringing our attention to this moment…”

Although I loved all the modules, mindfulness was actually my favorite. Before taking this course, I had read a lot of other parenting books. Most stressed staying calm in the moment, which was much easier said then done.

I get stressed and overwhelmed pretty easily. So even though I wanted to apply a lot of the principals in other things I had read, I was finding it difficult to. The mindfulness modules enabled me to do just that. Stopping, breathing, and really focusing on what was occuring in the here and now (versus the now, tomorrow, next week, and the long term) has made a huge difference in my sanity and my parenting. I found it to be a perfect set up for the next module.

Relationship Oriented Parenting

Much of this section focuses on the psychology of attachment theory and parenting styles and how these can effect our children’s development. The course does a wonderful job explaining these in terms that are easy to understand and then providing information on some of the most prominent peaceful parenting styles such as Attachment Parenting, Unconditional Parenting and RIE in an easy to digest way. I’ve always loved these (and a few others) styles of parenting, and to see suggestions of how to integrate these approaches together is wonderful.

Whole Child Parenting

This is a great section on the ‘everything else’ that parents wonder about; nutrition & supplements, sleeping (including cosleeping), safe household and personal care products and family dynamics (including exercise, self care for parents, sustainability & more!). This section may be a bit of a review for parents who are already on the crunchy spectrum, but there’s still an abundance of information (particularly the section on sleep if you have an infant or younger child).

Overall, I found the Conscious Connection to be a wonderful and eye opening course. It contains an abundance of useful information divided up into modules and sections so one can learn as much or as little at a time (useful if you have little ones around). Although the information can be applied to almost any stage of your child’s life (including preteens and teenagers), I believe the information will be most relevant to parents and caretakers of younger children (and parents to be).

To learn more about the Conscious Connection ecourse, visit The Mind Body Mama website or facebook page.

Need a last minute gift for the holidays (or to yourself)? Consider giving The Conscious Connection Ecourse. Packed with information, it’s sure to inspire parents and parents to be. From now until Christmas, use code HIPPIEMAMA50 for 50% off the full course fee. That’s a HUGE savings. Tell them Mama Hippie sent you.