Turn Off Your Phone

Congratulations, you've reached the last activity in this collection and you've taken the first step to becoming a more mindful family, just by showing up with openness and curiosity. One of the biggest challenges to feeling connected as a family is probably in your hands right now. I'm talking about our phones. Their awesome power cannot be denied. I mean, just think of everything you can do on your phone at any given time, from ordering groceries to learning mindfulness to watching a lifetime's worth of content on any subject imaginable. Boundaries around phone usage help us to carve out time to be fully present with each other, engaging in conversation, play, and learning without the distraction of our phones. One way of creating good phone boundaries is choosing times of day when phones are put away, like during family meals or when checking in about the day. If you have an older child, separating them from their phone may seem like a herculean task. In those moments, it's helpful to empathize with your teen by remembering how hard it can be to part from your own phone, especially at night. We can also remember the social expectations that teens face, and the FOMO they may feel by missing out on a conversation. Remembering that their phone is the primary way they communicate with friends and share experiences allows us to pause, take a breath, and recall how vital our own friendships were at their age too. Whatever boundaries you choose to set, remember that curiosity and openness are some of your superpowers as a family. So as you set agreements around phone usage together, you can get curious about your child's experience by asking them questions like "What is it like when you have to part with your phone for a while, and what do you enjoy, if anything, about getting some time away from your phone?" One activity you can try is to make a list as a family of at least 100 things that you like to do that don't involve screens, and then post this list where everyone can see it so that everyone can get ideas for what to do. And feel free to add to this list when new ideas arise. We truly hope you found this collection helpful, not only for yourself as a parent, but also for your children and how you mindfully interact with each other. Think of these lessons, activities, meditations, and affirmations as your parenting toolkit. We encourage you to revisit them at any time, whether you find yourself in an acute need state or you're just wanting to brush up on your mindful approach to parenting as your family transitions from one stage to another. We're here for you and we hope you'll share this collection with other parent friends. Take good care of yourselves and your mind and we hope to see you back here again soon....