An Empathic Mom's Survival Guide When Parenting a Sensitive Child By Karen Hasselo

​Are you an empathic mom parenting a high needs/sensitive child?

Is there a special dance going on between you and your child?

Are you hyper-aware of your child's mental and emotional states? Does it feel as though their experience is YOUR experience because the boundaries of where your child leaves off and you begin seems blurred?

Are you both soaking up each other's energy and allowing it to flow back and forth in a continuous loop?

Does your child seem to know and even act out your emotional undercurrents long before you are even aware of your own level of discomfort?

​Do you sometimes feel as though the only way you can alleviate your child's suffering is by taking on some of their pain as your own?

If you voted YES to any of the above, you are not alone in your struggle.

As an empathic mom, it can sometimes feel like a curse. The ongoing dilemma is how do you detach (with involvement) from your child's journey, while simultaneously empowering your child to meet and master his or her own challenges with courage and confidence?

During my journey with my son, I often believed that is was my responsibility to take on his burdens in order to keep him safe and secure on this planet. This was a deeply flawed belief and one that did not serve either one of us. By adopting a fundamental trust and knowing that all is unfolding as intended because your child carries a powerful internal guidance system from within, you will  be able to consider resigning from micromanaging the Universe.

It isn't possible to create experiences on behalf of your children. They alone are responsible for their own creations. However, you will be in a more advantageous position to fully support your kids, the more that you focus upon building your own mental, emotional, physical and spiritual alignment and strength. Chronic depletion and unbalanced devotion short-circuits your empathic superpowers.

In order for you to more powerfully show up, while your children's emotions swirl, set an intention to stay grounded and present in your body so that you can practice neutrality, while witnessing and holding space for them to process and release their lower vibrational states. Holding space allows you to observe your child's emotional state with detachment, while staying present to your own emotional climate.

Here are some key practices that will help you ground in order to be more available for your child's process. Use you own discernment as to which of these methods might resonate for you.

• Journal
• Mediate/Mindfulness practice. Notice your five immediate senses, including hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell.
• Spend time in nature. Walk barefoot outdoors.
• Eat root vegetable, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, beets and turmeric.
• Use high quality earthing pads or sheets. For more information on earthing, consider reading the book Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever.
• Get restorative sleep.
• Drink plenty of filtered water. Take a bath with mineral salts.
• Take yourself and your challenges more lightly. The Angels have wings for a reason!
• Use your hands to provide pressure to various body parts, including your head, your shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, back, buttocks, legs and feet. You can either grasp these parts with one or both hands or use the flat of your hand to repeatedly tap across these body parts.
• Use essential oils to ground, such as Sandalwood, Cypress, Galbanum, Hinoki, Patchouli and Vetiver.
• Use grounding crystals, such as black tourmaline, obsidian, hematite, red jasper, red tiger's eye, smoky quartz or black onyz, just to name some examples.
• Take a break from technology and social media.
• Become cognizant of the type of media and entertainment that you are consuming. Are you falling into a pit of fear-mongering promoted by mass consciousness?

To better understand the language of feelings, email me at [email protected] and request John Gray's Feet To Release Chart.