Kitchen Table Meditation

“Okay guys, I need to do a meditation.”

“What’s a meditation, mommy?”

“It’s when I get really quiet, and I find that very still place inside me, where I can connect with God.”

“Oh.”

We’re at the kitchen table. Dinner is in the oven. We’ve had lots of appointments today, running, running, running. Todd works til’ 10:00 tonight. There is no way I’ll get a break.

I pour a little pile of sunflower seeds on the table in front of each of them.

“So, I need you to be really quiet for a couple of minutes. Can you do that?”

“Yes!” They chime.

Sitting in my kitchen chair, I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

Silence.

These two little whirling dervishes do not make a peep.

I feel them watching me as I go to that place. The place where nothing is wrong. And then...I don’t feel them any longer.

When I open my eyes, the clock on the stove says four minutes have passed. I feel different. Better.

There they are, with big smiles, their seed piles almost gone.

I can’t believe that worked?

“Mommy, do you always meditate?” Seth asks.

“I do it a lot, but usually downstairs in my writing room.”

“I’m going to meditate too!” Riley says, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

Oh my God!

For years, we've tried to teach Riley deep breathing and relaxation techniques. She's balked at every one of them.

You see, we were trying to fix her.

Today, I was only trying to fix myself.