When it comes to raising vibrant, happy, healthy daughters, clinical psychologist and author Dr. Shefali Tsabary says the best thing a mother can do is be her most empowered, authentic self. When women live enslaved by their culture, their spouse, their job, their fears, whatever it may be, they teach their daughters that they are not enough and that to find joy, they too will have to be dependent on other people and things in their lives.
By continuing to seek approval from others instead of looking inward and living in self-confidence and acceptance, we perpetuate the chains placed on women throughout the world. In order to set our daughters free and start a new era of self-love and fully embodied freedom, we must lead by example.
It can be as simple as appreciating the positive qualities in your partner or qualities typically attributed to the opposite sex—such as logic, independence, strength and leadership—or taking the time to consider how you can live a more self-possessed life by opening yourself up to your own needs and goals. Even simply acknowledging the ways in which you live a chained, unfulfilled life can be the stepping stones to becoming a better role model for your children.
Dr. Shafali specializes in the integration of Eastern philosophy and Western psychology in order to help families implement the concept of conscious parenting to better connect with their children. In her new book,
The Awakened Family, she explores these dynamic relationships between parent and child and explores a new way in parenting, where gender often becomes androgynous and therefore free of gender confinement. This, she says, also creates a generation that is balanced and living as one.
In this video, watch as Dr. Shefali walks you through the most essential way to raise a daughter that is empowered, fulfilled and autonomous.