A woman has the greatest opportunity to provide the best outcome for a baby and its potentialities. Not only by having a conscious and definite will to form the child accordingly to the highest ideal she can conceive, but first and foremost having the aspiration to work on herself. ~ Sri Aurobindo

The instant I discovered I was pregnant, I became a mother. My whole perspective and value of what I wished to be and see in the world coalesced and intensified as the time drew near for me to birth my daughter. How very grateful I am for the opportunity to walk this path called mother and to do it consciously and intentionally. There is no greater path than that of parent or caregiver for it calls us forward into growth that when we accept, provides the deepest transformation and love I have ever known. Ten years later my commitment to conscious parenting remains strong and clear. I feel compelled to grow, expand and work on myself. There’s no room for a talking head if heart-centered connection with my child is the goal. The old model of do as I say, not as I do didn’t work anyway.

The Mother’s day Address created by Julia Ward Howe did not resemble the Hallmark holiday that it does today. It was a call to action for all women to join together, to lean into each other and to eradicate violence and war. She spoke of Oneness, of Peace, of Love. In order for peace to exist, we must have a desire to have peace in our hearts. We have grown exponentially technologically but have we grown in our ability to be bearers of peace? Do we talk of love yet harbor hate, revenge, unforgiveness, and self righteousness? Do we tell our children to be peaceful yet we yell at them or say hurtful things to them when they don’t comply to our wishes?

The Native Americans say that all things are born of women and no law shall be made to harm the women and the children. When we harm the Earth, Gaia, Mother Earth, we harm the women, the children, the men, all life.

I invite you to cultivate the awareness within you that how you love and value yourself through your thoughts, words and actions is how your children learn to love and value themselves. May you walk lightly upon the Earth with great love in your every step.