Spiritual Parenting

 Guidelines during pregnancy:

1. Having a vegetarian diet
2. Listening to music
3. Learning an artform or a language
4. Reading books that nourish the soul
5. Spending quality time with nature and animals
6. Meditate

Guidelines for Parents

1. Love your children for who they are, and not for what they do
2. Understand that your children are not your property. They have their own life purpose. Don't push them to fulfill your unfulfilled desires
3. Your children need to be aware that your personal problems have nothing to do with them and they are not responsible for that
4. Accept your parents as they are and thank them for what they have done for you, as that compassion towards them will translate into your parenting as well

Children needs

1.  To be loved unconditionally
2.  To be taught that true happiness is sourced from within-how our experience of life is defined by the internal landscape
3.  To feel safe and secure
4.  To have quality time with you
5. For their creativity and imagination to be nurtured
6. For their natural strengths to be encouraged, so their individuality can flourish and unique aspects appreciated
7.  To be taught about their mistakes in a healthy way, free of guilt
8. Attention to their patterns so as the adult you can pin point something they might be struggling with and consider gentle solutions that foster growth 
9. Space to develop their own beliefs through personal experience
10. Learning about processing difficult emotions- how relaxing the body and focusing on the physical sensations instead of thoughts can allow painful emotions to be processed fully instead of getting suppressed

Ways to encourage Spiritual Growth in your Child

1. Meditate together
2. Introduce spirituality early on
3. Don't pretend to have all the answers.  
4. Follow a gratitude practice together. Eg. A daily journal for listing what you are thankful for.
5. Serve others together, so they experience genuine joy of giving
6. Enjoy learning activities together, so they build positive associations with studying
7. Live by example
8. Show them kindness, compassion, forgiveness. Keep their innocence in mind.
9. Use daily events as live examples to teach spirituality
10. Give them plenty of time with animals and nature
11. Infuse a sense of playfulness

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz that would work beautifully for a more peaceful and joyous life for you and your children: