This is not a book about meditation. A better title may be been, “Relaxation for Moms.”
Some of the “meditations” include a video meditation on page 45:
…slide in your favorite DVD, and then sink your tired body onto some soft cushions and let the story take your mind on a lovely side trip.
“pamper yourself” on page 69:
Why not find a local spa or beauty shop and zip on over for a manicure or pedicure?
Why not, indeed.
Other suggestions include having a cup of tea and taking “a nice long bath” (there’s a list of 17 things to focus on in the bath, including a prayer of gratitude for your feet). Don’t confuse the long hot bath with “take a luxurious shower” from a different chapter.
Sigh.
There’s a CD included. My husband is obviously not a mom, but he does meditate and sometimes we meditate together. I suggested we pop the CD in for our meditation. It was so incredibly cheesy I was embarrassed. Track three was called “motherhood meditation” and involved lying on the couch with a journal. “What part of this is meditation?” my husband asked. One of the journal prompts was straight out of Oprah, “What do you know for sure to be true?”
I don’t want to imply that it’s a bad book. Just that I’m clearly not the target audience (even though I’m a mom and I meditate). I’m picturing the audience as the type of upper class women who are always saying, “I’m not rich” even though they obviously are, who have money and time to “zip on over” to a local spa or spend the afternoon strolling art museums or seeing movies alone (recommended on page 155). When they get home from a full day of “me time” they pour themselves a glass of red wine while they cook dinner,
savoring the taste, enjoying the deliciousness, and appreciating the luxury –p. 75
This is for the kind of women who honestly believe this stuff about how mothers are “the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacation-less class” (p. 167). I mean, I honestly did feel that way when my kids were toddlers, but I wasn’t exactly getting pedicures. Apparently I should have had a bedtime routine for myself when my kids were small (rather than falling into bed exhausted after wrestling the kids to bed like I was trying out for one of those nanny shows). I could have taken
a few minutes to slip into your favorite pajamas, whether they’re wispy cotton or snuggly flannel
and rubbed myself with a “refreshing scented lotion” (p. 97). Honestly, I slept in yoga pants and a t-shirt when my kids were small because you never know when you’re going to get roused from a sleep or how long you’ll be up, and I didn’t want someone knocking on my door the next morning and wondering why I’m in my nightgown.
I remember how desperately frazzled and just plain tired I was at that point in my life and I can tell you right now this book by women too privileged to realize they’re privileged would not have helped me one bit.
2 out of 5 stars
Meditation for Moms: How to Relax Your Body, Refresh Your Mind, and Revitatlize Your Spirit in Minutes a Day
Kim Dwyer and Susan Reynolds
Alpha Books, 2012
bookananda 
nathanjedi
/ May 30, 2012This is why I don’t read books like this. Hey,whats this?
(Finds CD)
Meh.
(Throws in shredder)
😉