Ivy slept through the night last night. From 7pm to 6.30am. No feed (she usually has one feed or sometimes two), no waking. She's always been a good night-sleeper, but this was something else. Needless to say, my boobs were very full.
We are also in the process of trying to lengthen day naps. It's only been a couple of days, but inch by painful-inch, we might be getting somewhere. Basically, in the last few days things are looking really good on the sleep-front.
We are blessed to have a baby who likes her night-time sleep. We put her down and aside from one or two 'dummy re-inserts' we usually don't hear from her. But day-sleeping is another thing all together... so now I'm nap-educating her. Yep, pay attention tiny-student and do what I say!
Interestingly, the naps work (as in, are longer) when I'm in the house meditating, which I have just re-started in the last few days. Once, I got stuck in her room after settling her (her door squeaks so I was trapped) so I just decided to do my meditation in her room (out of her sight though). So interesting. As soon as I sat down she was quiet. Aside from a few snorts and shuffles in her sleep, it was all-quiet for another 30 minutes. I was totally amazed. Same thing this morning, except I was not in her room, however the feeling in the apartment was calm.
So it got me thinking about why. We could talk about calm energies or cosmic help from above, or even my faith that she will just learn to sleep better during the day. We could say it was the power of positive thinking, or even help from God. Really, it's all possible. But I think it has something to do with me. When I meditate I see things differently. I concentrate on the breath in and out of my nose and that's it. I put my anxieties and thoughts aside and just be. I think babies can feel this. When you're calm, they're calm. Not so easy to do when they are wailing and carrying on, but I allow myself this time to just de-frag my brain computer so I can better handle situations.
Meditation is not for everyone, but it should be. It shouldn't be hard, but it is. We fill our down time with TV, books, food, exercise, phone calls, games, facebook... anything but just stopping for even 20 minutes to just breathe. It's actually really hard to do, in a weird way. But I am really cherishing having it back in my life.
Life sure ain't perfect [this post was interrupted many times by a non-napping child], but it's all about how you handle the knocks. I've not been handling them well lately, so rather than trying to eat or shop my way through it, I'm going inside to face things head on. Gently though, one breath at a time.
Es ♥
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