One of my biggest frustrations with the gentle/respectful/peaceful parenting "world" is the gap between what your child does, and how you respond. The clear message is that you need to stay calm so you aren't reacting emotionally, but the "how" of staying calm isn't really explained.

So when my publisher offered me a chance to write a book about that exact topic for parents of toddlers, I said yes. My new book, 5-Minute Mindfulness for Raising Toddlers, is available now on Kindle, and in paperback on May 10.

Mindfulness has become something of a buzz word that has divorced the way we use it from its original meaning. As I cover in the first part of the book, mindfulness is based in Buddhist and Hindu practices. Like the west has taken yoga and commercialized it, so have we with mindfulness.

I am not Buddhist, Hindu, or South Asian, and the book is secular. My focus is more on the practicalities of raising toddlers while trying to stay calm in the world we're in. My goal was to offer approachable suggestions to alleviate some stress using a mindfulness framework.

What Are People Saying?

Review copies went out recently and here's what I've heard so far:

"I’ve begun to skim through your book and it’s AMAZING!!!! My husband thinks so as well it’s like everything I didn’t know we needed and also didn’t think there would ever be a book for! I will submit a review this week thank you for writing this what a gift!"

"I loved it. 🙂 You did a fantastic job of blending a variety of disciplines and making them approachable. I particularly appreciate how you normalize neurodiverse people and people from different backgrounds and relatedly, how they may need to tailor to their own needs. I honestly loved its blend of disciplines from psychology to OT and to mindfulness. You are so knowledgeable and I'm glad you are putting it to further use in a different capacity!"

Is it a magic solution? No. The book offers individual suggestions for larger systemic issues. I did my best to make them viable for a hectic life with young kids. There is a lot we can't directly control about our lives, and I hope the book gives you the chance to feel more centered, even if it's only for a few minutes at a time.

You can pre-order the paperback, or grab your Kindle edition here.