Amber Hatch - Mindfulness for Parents: Finding Your Way to a Calmer Happier Family

Whether you are a beginner to the concept of mindfulness or a seasoned practitioner, you will find in this book a deep understanding of its power, and a clear, practical, insightful guide to using that power in your own family.

Dr Lawrence Cohen, licensed psychologist, play therapist and author of Playful Parenting

Parenting is possibly our most rewarding and challenging task. Amber Hatch provides a wide-ranging account of how mindfulness and compassion can support and enrich parenting. She writes from a depth of knowledge and experience, and with a fluency and skill that make the ideas accessible and useable. Her work is at the forefront of an important and very promising field of enquiry.

Willem Kuyken, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Oxford University

In this excellent book, Amber Hatch explains clearly and persuasively how helpful mindfulness can be, not just for the child who is being parented but for the parent, too. If we learn to recognize, understand and regulate our own emotions well do a much better job of helping our children to manage theirs and find being a parent more rewarding.

Gill Rapley, PhD, co-author of the Baby-led parenting books

Hatch has a real skill for explaining her ideas with loving clarity. A brilliantly personal yet practical guide to mindfulness, this book is infused with Hatchs grasp of the nuances that only a parent could know. Full of ideas, stories and interesting concepts, parenthood and mindfulness complement each other in surprising ways. An engaging read for any parent looking to find greater presence and more joy.

Michelle McHale, Director of Attachment Parenting UK

This book makes mindfulness accessible to any parent interested in discovering effective ways to make parenting more meaningful, joyous and less stressful. It is packed with real-life examples that all parents will recognize. As a grandmother and mindfulness teacher I feel sure this book will be helpful to many parents. I wish this book had been around when my own children were growing up.

Eluned Gold, Director of Continuing Professional Development, Centre for Mindfulness, Research and Practice, Bangor University

Written with abundant compassion and honesty, Mindfulness for Parents offers an enormously helpful guide for bringing mindfulness to the everyday joys and very real challenges of life with children. Whether a parent, grandparent or parent-to-be, anyone wanting to achieve personal growth as they bring greater awareness into the domain of family living can benefit from these pages. Thank you, Amber, for writing such a kind, wise and caring book!

Nancy Bardacke, midwife, meditation teacher and author of Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond

As a meditator herself, as well as an instinctive mother, Amber Hatch gives a from-the-heart description of the many and varied ways that mindfulness can help parents cope with the challenges of parenthood, and also open themselves to the wonders of development bodies, minds and relationships that babies and young children can teach us.

Dr Paul Dennison, meditation teacher, founding trustee of the Samatha Trust, and former NHS Consultant Psychotherapist

This book is an invaluable tool for any parent struggling with childrens demands in todays hectic 24/7 world. A practical, calming guide to retaining sanity and gaining peace, against all the odds.

Corinne Sweet, author of The Mindfulness Journal

Mindfulness
For Parents

Finding Your Way to a Calmer,
Happier Family

Amber Hatch

This edition first published in the UK and USA 2017 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

19 Cecil Court

London WC2N 4EZ

Design and typography copyright Watkins Media Limited 2017

Text copyright Amber Hatch 2017

Illustrations copyright Alex Ogg 2017

Amber Hatch has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

: From The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, published by Ebury. Reprinted by permission of the Random House Group Limited.

Copyright 1975, 1976 by Thich Nhat Hanh. Preface and English translation

Copyright 1975, 1976, 1987 by Mobi Ho. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.

Pages : The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness by Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn. Reproduced with permission of Guilford Press in the format Republish in a book via Copyright Clearance Center.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the Publishers.

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Designed and typeset by Donald Sommerville

Printed and bound in Finland

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78028-960-1

www.watkinspublishing.com

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To Morrigan, Dougal and the little being who has grown alongside this book.

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Thanks to my agent, Jane, of Graham Maw Christie, who encouraged me to get this project off the ground. Thanks to Jo Lal, Sandy Draper and everyone at Watkins Publishing yet again it has been a pleasure to work with you!

This book has grown out of my own meditation practice, which could not have developed without the kindness and wisdom of my teachers at Samatha, who give their time so generously. I owe particular thanks to my class teacher Terry, and also to Charles King, who has taught me so much through his patience and understanding.

I am indebted to the many friends, both within Samatha and without who travel this journey alongside me, sharing their experiences and encouragement. Thanks to everyone who contributed anecdotes, thoughts and experiences for this book. Rebekah Curtis, Ben Curtis and Namaste Wiles all deserve a special mention thank you! Also thanks to Gwil, Gareth, Jan, Bethan, Anne, Deborah, Joe and Gemma.

Ive known Guin Webster from the earliest days of parenting, and our respective mindfulness journeys, and I have learnt so much from her gentle, thoughtful example. Working with Guin to establish a regular meditation group for parents was pivotal in forming this book. Thanks for her unwavering enthusiasm and support throughout! Many thanks to all the wonderful women I have met through this group; the sincerity with which they parent and practise is inspirational. Im very grateful for the help I received from Nancy Bardacke and Maret Dymond, who generously gave up their time to share their experiences with me.

Thanks to my parents for their love and support, and especial thanks to my husband Alex. And of course none of this could be possible without my children, Morrigan and Dougal my greatest teachers.

When I became pregnant with my first child, I was 24 years old and extremely idealistic. I was determined to have a perfect pregnancy and empowering birth experience, and to be a great mother. I thought it would be a breeze.

I loved being pregnant. I was lucky: everything went smoothly no morning sickness or backache, and I was riding my bike right up until week 39. I read up on active birth techniques, attended pregnancy yoga classes and became indignant at the medicalization, as I saw it, of childbirth. Birth didnt have to be painful if you did it right, the books informed me. I told my friends and family that I wanted to be in control when I gave birth. I decided to borrow a birth pool and have a home birth.