In planning my music teaching materials, I have cultivated respect and value for original ideas from the very beginning.
I am now including the idea of cultivating tenderness.
By getting away from the pressure of our hurried lives, we can slow down for intimate and tender moments with our children.
The fear culture around us distracts us from the ability to build an inner practice with our family.
Instead of inviting the noise and pain of the outside culture into our homes through the media and technology we can make our homes a sacred sanctuary.
We can build routines of cooking dinner together, conversation at the table, and community as we clean up.
In my music materials, I include a transitional technique (I post a grown-up version at www.takethreedeepbreaths.blogspot.com) to set the stage for musical learning.
By spending ten minutes a day of undistracted time with your child, you are cultivating tenderness.
You attention is not pressured, not divided.
You tenderly attend to your child’s learning needs, step by step. You can expand this to other time you spend with your child.
As you expand your tenderness practices from one routine activity to another, and then another, your household will take on an entirely different character.
You may find yourself cultivating tenderness in your own routines, and preparing thoughtfully instead of in a rush.
You can cultivate tenderness from the inside and let it expand into all your activities.
© 2014 Kathryn Hardage
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