Preserving Wholeness
In the last few days I have had the pleasure of attending two workshops, both taught by incredibly insightful teachers in the field of human development. Sandra Maitri, author of The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram and The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues has been a teacher of mine for the past four years. Her workshops have been instrumental in revealing things about my psyche that were previously obscure to me. The other teacher (and author of too many books to name), Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, helped me link together my observations of the the human mind and its internal dynamics with the...
Read MoreJust Living
Life is not a matter of milestones, but of moments. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Chris and his dad; 3 months of life This week I am being called to drop all reflections on development and just live. Sometimes I can become so preoccupied with how to help children and their parents mature ease-fully that I forget to relax into the flow of my life. May this week be filled with the sweet delight of simply being with the ones we...
Read MoreKnowing and Not Knowing
One of the primary ways that we mature as human beings is through developing insight. As we see more deeply into the nature of reality and human consciousness, we can’t help but to begin to align our behavior with our insights, which is a harmonization with the intelligence of Life itself. Last week I explored some of the various types of insight that can be helpful in our parenting, as well as in our own development. This post will focus on the importance of balancing our knowing with not knowing aspects of mind as a way to develop our capacity for insight. One of the amazing things...
Read MoreThe Power of Insight
When we are “feeling ourselves,” when our bodies and minds are relaxed and open, we intuitively know how to be with our children in a way that is loving and supportive. From this state of higher integration, we have access to all that we have learned about people: their inner world of motivations, emotions, reactions, and how they are best supported to grow and mature. We can then use these insights to interact with our children in a way that not only teaches them about appropriate behavior in different environments (which is important and necessary), but also takes into account...
Read MoreIt is Our State of Consciousness that Matters Most
A wise mother knows: It is her state of consciousness that matters. Her gentleness and clarity command respect. Her love creates security. Vimala McClure, The Tao of Motherhood One of the greatest things about child development is that it has a momentum and intelligence that is all its own. This dynamic intelligence, or “optimizing force” as Hameed Ali of the Diamond Approach likes to call it, requires certain forms of nourishment along the way for it to progressively organize the child into an ever-increasingly complex human being. Think about it: Did you put your child...
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Chris White, M.D. is a board-certified pediatrician whose parenting work aims to optimize the developmental potential of children and their parents. He regularly writes on 
