Parenting for Heart, Mind and Spirit



This book is written in a format that is pleasing to both your emotional and rational minds. It begins with a quick review of the Huna concepts as researched and developed by Max Freedom Long. The basic concepts about the structure of the Self are important for us to understand in order to become effective parents. The concepts teach us about the characteristics and qualities of the inner Selves. In modern psychology, the inner Selves are called the subconscious mind (emotional), the conscious mind (rational), and the superconscious mind (spiritual).

With the understanding of these three minds and how they develop, parents gain effective ways of helping their children learn important life skills. These life skills are specific skills the emotional and rational minds must learn to become whole and healthy adults. Parents also learn the importance of staying connected to the spiritual mind.

(To read more about Huna, consult the Bibliography.)

Next we explore the Five Primary Family Values, which are the foundations for living within the immediate family, the community family, and the world family. Family values are fundamental to effective parenting.

If you, as a parent, have not thought about the Five Primary Family Values, you can now incorporate them into your family and into your parenting.

From the Five Primary Family Values we move on to look at the importance of the mother and the importance of the father in the life of a child beyond the physical aspects. We see how the gender characteristics of both male and female are found within each human being, for they are the characteristics of the rational and emotional minds. We see how important it is to respect and honor these characteristics in ourselves and in our children.

Once you understand the different characteristics, you can use the appropriate gender approach for specific parenting situations.

Parenting decisions, made before children are born, influence the actions parents take to teach children essential life skills. We explore these basic decisions and their effects on both children and parents.
If you haven't examined these early decisions, you have the opportunity to examine them now and adapt them to your current parenting strategies.

Among these important decisions is how to discipline. The section on discipline discusses the use of "love and logic" in helping children learn control. This kind of discipline teaches control to both the rational and emotional minds. It combines empathy with consequences. As the child grows, parental discipline effectively turns into self-discipline, a necessary skill for a child to have before reaching adulthood.

Examples of "love and logic" discipline techniques are given, which you can begin to use immediately. They will change the way you react as a parent and give you wiser parenting tools. They will help your child learn self-control.

Another important, but sometimes neglected, area of parenting is spiritual training. We are as much spiritual beings as physical beings. If our spiritual training is missing, we cannot learn to be fully human.

It does not matter what kind of spiritual training you give your child. The important aspect is that he or she learns of the connection to the spiritual mind and how to keep that connection strong and open. It is also important for children to know that there is a greater purpose to Life.

Next, we explore the different phases of growth of a child and look at the necessary life skills the rational and emotional minds must learn as they mature. It is the major responsibility of a parent to understand these phases of growth and the associated life skills in order to help children become the capable human beings they are meant to be. The age categories are only guidelines. Each child develops in his or her right time.

At the end of each chapter on the phases of growth are useful hints for parents to help their children master the life skills. Each life skill is also labeled as to whether it is a rational mind skill or an emotional mind skill. If your child has not mastered a particular life skill, you can help him or her master it now. Life skills teach both minds how to work together for the good of the whole person.

As you learn to be an effective parent for your children, you learn how to parent yourself, for you too have both a rational and an emotional mind or Inner Children that need an effective parent. We next explore how to effectively parent your Inner Selves as an adult.

As you learn to effectively parent yourself, you move toward becoming a Divine Parent by reflecting the spiritual qualities of Love in your own life.

Finally, we explore how to take the skills you learn in parenting your children and your own Inner Selves and apply them to parenting the greater Community of Life.

We are not alone here on this Earth. We are true members of the Community of Life. We evolved from this Community and became consciously aware. It is our responsibility to be caretakers and nurture our brothers and sisters of Life.