This article is Part 2 of a 2 part series from friend and ambassador Kara, who you can find on IG here!
Enter Kara.
On November 6, 2021, I created an Instagram post about my Little Ohmie.
“My 2 year-old was not okay this morning. I have to admit, @luckylefty22 and I were being lazy and waited too long to feed him breakfast. Yup, big parent fail.
Cause Kingston became hangry!
He was not okay. Even after eating, he would not listen, he was being oppositional and just not himself.
Nothing was working. Gentle parenting wasn’t working, old-school black parenting (if you know, you know) wasn’t working and I could only think of one more thing to try before declaring the morning an absolute fail.
I took Kingston upstairs, sat him on a pillow, grabbed the first singing bowl I saw on my shelf, and told him to breathe.
Kingston, being Kingston, wanted to join in on the fun and asked for his singing bowl. I politely told him that he needed to be calm first. So we did some deep breathing, then he had time to use the Original Ohm to practice playing himself.
Kingston is now okay. He is listening, and he is back to being himself.
I honestly cannot wait for @theohmstore to re-release the Little Ohmies! Then Kingston will be able to have his own singing bowl for when he needs help learning about his emotions.”
The truth behind this post is during all of this, I was on the verge of a meltdown.
I was tired, hungry, and fed up with my toddler. What I realize now, that I did not realize at the time, is that I too needed some deep breathing and sound healing time.
I did not realize that because I have to walk my toddler through the process of calming down, that I am using the techniques to calm myself subconsciously. This was a win-win. My toddler had become more regulated, and I became more regulated. We both were able to have success with the rest of our day.
This was the day singing bowls saved my life. Most parents have these moments of utter loss and frustration, and I am happy that I was able to find a healthy way out of that space.
A Family Practice
Our home is not all peace, love, and happiness. As much as we would like to pretend that we are living happily ever after, marriage and parenting are far beyond hard work.
Sound healing is currently just a small part of our lives. As we continue to learn and evolve, it will continue to grow to be a staple of our home and what helps maintain our happiness.
Outside of helping my Little Ohmie use sound healing to calm, I sometimes use sound healing to restore my marriage during difficult moments.
Our family practice is simple and we don’t make a big fuss about it, but this video shows just a little glimpse into how our family practices mindfulness using singing bowls from The Ohm Store.
Product care for a little ohmie
I mentioned before my quick hesitation with letting my 2 year-old touch the singing bowls. I immediately dismissed that thought because I know how important sensory learning is to child development, and I know how important new and relevant experiences are to child learning and development.
So how did I get my Little Ohmie to take care of the singing bowls?
Simple, I talked to him.
As soon as Kingston saw the singing bowls, his face lit up, and he immediately went to grab one. I gently stopped him, got on his level, and told him how much I care about the singing bowls. I told him that I knew he was very excited to touch it, but that he must be gentle.
Together we practiced gentle touches on each other’s hands. When he had a chance to practice being gentle, I modeled how to be gentle with the singing bowl. He then had his turn to be gentle with the singing bowl.
Does this mean my son is perfect and will always be gentle with the bowls?
Nope.
Not even a little bit.
What this means is, he has a foundational understanding of my expectations, but because he is a toddler and has little to no impulse control, gentle and caring reminders are not only necessary but critical.
If I expected to never have that conversation again, I would have ended up angry with my toddler and possibly making a rash or traumatizing decision.
Another point I made with Kingston is that he must always ask before he touches the bowls. I set this expectation because I know he will need reminders about how to be gentle. When he has developed to the point or has created a consistent habit of being gentle with the singing bowls, then this expectation will be released.
Looking Ahead
All of this is new for my family, and I am not sure of the fullest potential singing bowls and sound healing can have for my Little Ohmie as we continue on this journey.
What I do know is that there are some basic goals I have for my son throughout this journey:
- I want my son to understand that his emotions are normal and that those emotions will fluctuate as he encounters challenges throughout his life.
- I want my son to know that he is in control of these emotions.
- I want my son to know there are healthy ways to deal with challenging emotions, and there are healthy ways to prevent challenging emotions.
I cannot promise my son will become a sound healing guru, or be a person who has deep meditative experiences, but I can promise that my son will be balanced and educated, and I can promise he will not experience the same trauma I lived with.
.....To read Part One of this article, you can go here and please follow Kara's journey on IG here!
