The Path of Parenting: Twelve Principles to Guide Your Journey - Softcover

McClure, Vimala Schneider

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577310780 ISBN 13: 9781577310785

Publisher: New World Library, 1999

Synopsis

The definition of "family" -- not to mention family structures and values -- is changing with lightning speed. As we enter a new millennium, adults are seeking new meaning to guide them in their role as parents. This book offers 12 principles based on t'ai chi to make the experience both satisfying and enlightening.

About this title

Review:

What makes The Path of Parenting so supportive is that it focuses on the parent rather than the child. Vimala McClure reminds us that parenthood is a chosen task (whether consciously or unconsciously), and if performed with love and awareness it can inspire profound spiritual growth. Using the 12 principles of Tai Chi as her framework, McClure's chapter headings include "Slow Down," "Be Yourself," "Avoid Extremes," "Maintain Continuity," and "Accept and Validate." Since McClure addresses parents of babies all the way through parents of adult children, this book has a unique and timeless quality.

The lessons here are not always esoteric or meditative, such as the author's gritty anecdote about a drug-abusing girl who assaulted her daughter. Herein lies McClure's strength--the ability to integrate lofty principles into the humbling and often fumbling acts of parenting. Occasionally the book falters, such as in the long-winded passage on writing a "mission statement." But for the most part, McClure is a concise and engaging writer who clearly values and understands the spiritual journey of parenthood. --Gail Hudson

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

From Principle One: When faced with a child who is testing your resolve, relax and yield in the manner of water. Absorb the child's energy without moving. Sink your strength into the earth with the relaxing breath. Allow the child to bounce off your energy, discovering without harm the nature of your power. Tai Chi teacher Ron Sieh says, 'Put everything underground where it can support you. Strewn anxiously throughout your body, it can only distract you.' This is called sinking power, and it's a good power to develop. It can help us master all the principles in this book. Here's how.

About this edition

• Publisher: New World Library
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1577310780
• ISBN 13: 9781577310785
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 257