A Mother's Daily-Life-Practice

Leading a life in harmony with body, mind, and heart.

And nourishing diversity within the wholeness of family.

Autumn Gerbera

Feeling at home in my wholeness with value and purpose.

A mother needs to speak for herself and do whatever is needed towards her well-being. She is the heart of her family - all life comes through mothers - and she leads by example in her daily being and doing as she goes about her life nourishing self and those she has chosen to bring into the world. I have learnt my most valuable life-lessons by being a mother. I have learnt that I am nourished by self-awareness, natural law, and creative self-expression; including the creation and conscious care of people; to flourish in our individual nature as part of the whole.

I have been a person seeking deeper meaning and purpose, trying to understand and make sense of what I observe, experiencing regular self-doubt and feeling invisible in my own life, unexpressed in my strongest skills, and in conflict with my own joyful mind and heart. Inner needs are invisible to others and often doubted. I am highly sensitive to life, and my respect and regard for the knowledge of others meant that I was choosing not to listen to my own inner knowing and body-wisdom. My healing journey has taught me that it is about feeling purpose within rather than seeking purpose outside of myself. I recognise now that we are all different expressions of human nature and what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another. We each have to find our own truth and become comfortable within and appreciative of our natural path, role, and skills to use and contribute. No-one else can necessarily validate or confirm our truth for us through shows of appreciation or praise because we each have our own perspective, purpose, and life challenges to overcome. But I know how painful it can be to live against our own nature, for someone else's purpose. Misunderstanding and "shining down" can happen early on within family, especially when we don't want to question others, and aren't self-assured with a positive sense-of-self amidst unkind comparisons.

I am forever grateful for the gifts of the Vedic wisdom tradition and healing system. The Vedic view of life and Ayurveda with Jyotish, as well as their sister science of Yoga, have helped me appreciate a broader life-awareness and spirituality through my Christian upbringing, to value and bring life to my multicultural ancestral lineage skills and wisdom, and feel value and purpose for the individual role I play in using tools appropriate and relevant within my life-time to choose, uphold, and create well-being for self and others. I recognise the wisdom of my lineage mothers and feel their blessing to use whatever tools support and uphold the care of life; and being diligent not to become enamoured or distracted with the tools themselves.

Checking in with body, mind, and heart.

I wake with the sun each morning and give myself an hour of quiet to check-in with my body and being and come out of my mind. I do some simple stretches with Yoga asanas, short breathing practice with alternate-nostril breathing (pranayama), enjoy using my voice in sounding and singing Vedic mantra or traditional ancestral singing. Then I go outside in my garden and use my five senses to notice what I hear, touch, see, taste, smell. The waking day and early morning is a special time that offers me peace and connection.

I listen within and bring awareness to body and breath:

How does my body feel and why?

Am I choosing to take in, digest, and receive what nourishes me?

Am I using all of my strengths and skills on what feels vital, energising, and worthwhile?

Is there any action I need to change today to support my well-being?

I consider what I need to do today and focus on my day ahead with intention to choose balance and do all that I CAN do from within and around me, today. I light my ghee lamp and honour my ancestors with a dish of fresh water and flowers from my garden and remember their wisdom and strength that flows through my veins, with skills that I uniquely craft, use, and contribute, some of which I am fortunate to have observed and experienced through their mentorship before they departed this life.

'The human being has enormous resources in the power to heal. And in those resources lie things that we ourselves need to clear or feel.' (Maya Tiwari)

Refueling around midday.

Eating with reverence supports our good digestion, where we feel appreciation for the food and water available to us. I try to make sure that I provide our most substantial food around midday to support our most active section of the day, and for when our digestive fire is likely to be strongest. We sit quietly and peacefully to digest our meal before tending to the afternoon's tasks.

A daily walk for balance.

A short walk at around 5:30 p.m. moves lymphatics and provides mental quiet to walk, breathe, and simply notice life and nature. Circulation and opening the heart re-energises and restores. Our evening meal is generally lighter and I try to be in-rhythm with the Day's rest and ensure that we eat between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m to digest and stabilise before sleep at around 10 p.m.

Having a teenager in the house flexing her increasing power requires the handing over of self-responsibility; to use that power for good purpose. I am inspired to hold steady with my life-experience and personal example of providing and cooking natural wholefoods with all six tastes incorporated for a balanced meal that is largely plant-based. It is a cooperative dance where we are not fanatical but diligent and realistic. We can diverge a little because our life flow is generally healthful, kind, and intentional for well-being. We also grow and use what we can and this has been a vital piece for our children. Weekend walks in nature are the other life-affirming ground that cultivates our connection with the five great elements within and around us.

Accepting Nature's seasons of life with grace.

I have recently turned 52 years of age, and I feel fortunate for all that I have learnt through my personal experience of life. I have chosen to be responsible for bringing other life and nature onto our Earth with my three children; I have to value every bit of knowledge and wisdom I have gleaned thus far and be a living example and nourishing light of well-being to lead my children forward and support their inner strength, self-trust, and individual nature, path, and purpose. My role is to be an open heart and quiet mind, nourishing diversity and upholding the wholeness of my family. We all have natural boundaries and limitations, and we are responsible for keeping ourself well within our boundaries while harnessing the creative gifts our nature gives us to use for our expression of life. I have to cultivate harmony within my 52-year-old body, mind, and heart and do whatever I can at this stage of my life flowing forward.

Now nearly 27, 25, and 16.

Practical spirituality.

"Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water." (Zen Koan)

It is important to me to keep things real! A mother's role is a busy one. I have experienced that what I do each day creates the quality of my life, and I feel self-empowered now to craft each day on my personal path of devotion. I feel value and purpose and at home within myself in wholeness. And I appreciate the diverse natures of each of my children and my husband with more objective understanding, much greater compassion, and practical skill. I am a person of high "feeling" nature and inner power so objective awareness has been key to calming and directing my emotional tides and inner fire.

Now that my youngest child is becoming more independent, I provide a healing service to support other parents and individuals to feel value and purpose for their nature and how they add to life. And have greater understanding to nourish each child in their nature, inner harmony, and purpose. I share my experiential knowledge with the Vedic tools that I use as a mother for deep self-awareness and daily-life-practice.

I trust that in doing this, I have done all that I can do to help others with what has been helpful to me; and support harmonious individuals for creating a harmonious collective. Inner responsibility, behavioural practice, and tangible daily action are the only way.

We are the leader of our own life once we grow and become independent from our parents. Our young people need us, their parents and elders, to demonstrate sustainable ways of well-being with joy and purpose, and uphold them to be strong and steady within themselves as our next generation of people on Earth.

Writer:

Didileia Worth

Self-Awareness Teacher & Holistic Well-being Mentor

sharing Embodied Jyotish & Wise Earth Ayurveda Food, Breath, & Sound teachings.