Motherhood Spotlight with Lacey Melguizo: Parenting as a practice
I'm so excited to be back with a new Motherhood Spotlight today. I am introducing you to my incredible and deeply insightful friend Lacey Melguizo, a mindfulness pro, beautiful photographer and mama of 2 gorgeous kiddos.
How I know Lacey:
Lacey and I met when Raz, Felix and I roadtripped from NYC to SF in 2016 and spent 8 months in Austin. I was introduced to Lacey through a mutual friend and when we met up to go on a hike, I felt like I had found a home in a new friend. I felt like Lacey looked straight through me and without knowing each other much, our conversation went straight to the core of everything you ever want to tell your friends.
So, needless to say, Lacey is a very intuitive, deeply caring woman and she has so much to share with the world of moms (you will see what I mean in her Motherhood Spotlight feature below). After you read her post, be sure to check out her course Parenting as a Practice of Joy (it starts on January 16th!).
Parenting as a Practice
by Lacey Melguizo
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new."
-Osho
All I have ever wanted to be is a mother, from as long as I can remember it was and is the deepest calling of my heart.
I did not know before having children that I was walking into this parenting experience asleep to so much that would begin to awaken and arise the moment my children were born.
Becoming a mother was indescribable for me and I am grateful that there was an instant connection and mothering came easily for me, I enjoyed pouring into my babies, but I had no idea how to give to myself.
My parenting journey began almost a decade ago unconsciously parenting from a place of fear and control. I was scared I was going to "mess them up" or "do the wrong thing."
The perfectionism that I had struggled with my whole life was weaving its way into my mothering.
From the outside it appeared that I was "the perfect mother" but on the inside I was filled with insecurity and self-doubt. As any parent knows there is not much we can control with our children: each moment I thought I had it all figured out, they would change and evolve into someone new.
The gift of all this change and letting go, breathing into my intuition and praying for guidance while becoming aware to each moment was that I was growing and changing as well.
Parenting is a practice, none of us have it figured out. I had to learn to show up in each moment and notice what was arising within me in response to whatever was going on without judging myself.
I was so unkind to myself in the beginning of my journey, so hard on my baby mother self.
I had no idea what I was doing, but there was a wisdom within me, like a mother seed that grew each time I practiced self-compassion and love.
It was easy to give unconditional love and acceptance to my children but a struggle to give it to myself. Taking time to sit in quiet or to nurture myself with self-care nourished and strengthened my ability to trust the mother seed within me. As I nurtured myself, I was more capable to nurture my children in an authentic and conscious way.
Each time I was hard on myself my children would look at me with their big eyes filled with unconditional love and mirror back to me my own enoughness.
This enoughness is what I practice mirroring back to them. Each time I messed up and became vulnerable with my children, I was shown the gift of my imperfections, the blessings of being authentic and vulnerable and our connection grew more deeply rooted and the mother seed began to sprout.
Over time my mother seed is now bearing fruit and I am in a season of mirroring back to my children the same lessons they gave to me as they struggle through some of the difficulties of growing.
My meditation practice sustains these changes and I am grateful to my children for continuing to teach me. They have taught me that I am enough just by being me, that no matter how many times I mess up, they still accept me with an openness and innocence that is healing and powerful.
This sense of belonging is what I hope they learn from my mothering. Mindful mothering has blessed me with the understanding that all mothers are perfect for their children and it is through our imperfections that we grow.
I am beyond grateful for the gift of sitting and being still, quiet and listening to the whispers of love that guide me day in and day out and weave us together wholeheartedly. I want to embody teaching my children to know they are enough and that everything they need is within them; they just have to stop, notice and breathe.
About Lacey:
Lacey Melguizo is first and foremost a mindful mother practicing conscious parenting. Her practice of mindfulness began when her first child was born which birthed out an unexpected love of photography and capturing moments. Mothering and photography evolved into a mindfulness journey in which time could stand stand still; forever those moments were kept.
Lacey has captured countless moments for her family and others, and is grateful that photography paved the way for a bigger calling to teach and empower others to be present to the gift of each moment we are given.
Founder of Unscripted Heart, a community that believes in empowering women, children, and families to live wholeheartedly, one breath at a time. Lacey serves as the Mindfulness Educator at Wholesome Generation teaching pre-K-2nd graders. A graduate of Dakini Meditative Meditation Teacher Training Program, a 300 hour certified meditation program, as well as a Certified Kids Life Mastery™coach. Lacey is on a mission to inspire and bring the simple yet profound principles of Mindfulness based Meditation and Social - Emotional learning into the hearts and minds of children, families, and schools. Lacey is a constant student of life and feels honored and humbled to share the wisdom she has learned over the years in her own journey, grateful for her teachers; especially the priceless teachings of her own children.
