What Sadhguru says about raising conscious children in a stressful world

Children today are coming of age in a world where they feel the weight of education, digital saturation, and incessant comparisons. However, Sadhguru (popularly known by his real name, Jaggi Vasudev) - a well-known spiritual guru and yogic master - generally talks about how children today need conscious parenting. As Sadhguru states, children’s stress is essentially a reflection of the state that their parents are in. Therefore, instead of just concentrating on bringing discipline, success, and control to children, Sadhguru rightly states that children need parents to be balanced and happy.Children absorb who you are, not what you saySadhguru insists that children do not learn life from classroom lecturers but from observing. The child is “absorbing] the entire emotion of the home—all the emotions the child witnesses in the way the parents respond to stress, anger, and life itself. If the parents live in fear, the child will absorb that too. But if the adults in the house are balanced and joyful, the child will naturally be balanced too because they live in the same environment,” he explains. The best parenting style is when the individual changes him/herself. “If the adults in the house are balanced and joyful, the child will naturally learn the same because they live in the same environment,” Sadhguru.Stress in children begins with stressed adultsIndeed, one of the strongest themes of Sadhguru’s teaching is that stress is not an innate condition of children but an acquired one. He says that if parents are perpetually concerned with the results of their children’s performance, with competition and with security, this builds up stress within the children. Children do not need to be coerced by words, but by observing parents’ emotional disturbances. Parents need to manage stress by being aware of it through meditation or by living in a conscious manner. An unstressed, well-rounded adult provides a secure psychological environment to the children.Don't burden children with expectationsSadhguru warns against raising children as projects that are replete with the parents’ ambitions. He says that over-expectations of academic or social success can strangle the child’s intelligence and happiness. He says that some parents load the child with their own unattained ambitions by projecting them onto the child. He says that conscious parenting allows the child to discover the world with wonder and curiosity rather than with the fear of failing.Teaching Responsibility Without Fear and ControlContrary to motivating by fear, penalty, or control, parenting by involvement and clarity is emphasized by Sadhguru as a means to bring up responsible kids. It is his view that kids become responsible by feeling a sense of belonging, being respected, and being understood by their parents and others. Explanations about why, rather than just by being made to obey, bring about a sense of awareness and avoid a sense of rebellion in kids, and such kids become self-disciplined in a stressful and rapidly changing world.Inner well-being matters more than achievement For Sadhguru, the objective of parenting is not to raise successful children but conscious human beings. He says that children who live happy and balanced lives, rather than those who live with the desire for success, are always better equipped to deal with life. Teaching children the basics of mindfulness, exercising, nature walking, and understanding one’s emotions can ensure that the children stay grounded. According to him, children who are raised with the emphasis on the satisfaction of their interiors stay strong and confident.