September 13, 2023
The Naked Parenting Pillar 2: The Story
Parenting is a challenging role that requires a great deal of patience, perseverance, and love. Parenting a special needs child, however, presents a unique set of challenges that many parents struggle to overcome. Special needs children require additional care and support to help them thrive and reach their full potential, which can take an immense toll on their parents. In this essay, we will explore the various struggles that parents face in raising a special needs child and the ways in which they can be supported.
One of the most significant struggles that parents of special needs children face is the emotional toll that it can take on them. Many parents feel overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious about their child's condition, and they may struggle to cope with the daily challenges that come with caring for a special needs child. It can be challenging to navigate the medical and education systems, to find the right treatments and therapies, and to manage the financial burden that often comes with providing extra care and support.
There are also practical challenges that must be addressed in raising a special needs child. Parents must often adjust their work schedules, find appropriate childcare, attend therapy sessions and medical appointments, and provide extra support and guidance with daily activities such as feeding and bathing. These challenges can make it difficult for parents to juggle their caregiving responsibilities with other responsibilities.
Despite these challenges, there are many ways in which parents of special needs children can be supported. First and foremost, it is essential that parents have access to appropriate medical and educational resources. This may include finding a knowledgeable physician who specializes in their child's condition, working with a team of therapists and educators, and accessing financial assistance programs. It is also important that parents have a supportive network of family and friends who can offer emotional and practical support.
Raising a special needs child poses significant challenges for parents. It requires a greater level of care, patience, and support than raising a typical child, and it can take a considerable emotional, financial, and practical toll on parents. However, with proper resources, support, and advocacy, parents of special needs children can overcome these challenges and provide their children with the love, care, and support they deserve.
Do you still feel surreal as parents of kids with special needs?
This show is for parents who are mourning the loss of the life and the child they thought they would have. This show is for parents who are tired, lonely and see no hope in sight.
You will learn how to deal with your non-verbal child with a sensory processing disorder, seizures, meltdowns, haircuts, and family trips. Embark on a journey of consciousness, self-care & meditation.
My name is Chad Ratliffe. I am a single father of five kids within 6 years of age and two of them are with special needs. 5 years ago, in a nasty divorce, my depression led me to addiction and hopelessness. Today, I share with others a life I never imagined possible.
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Looking forward to navigating parenthood journey with you!
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
naked, path, parenting, feel, parent, people, learn, talk, life, person, create, practice, good, meditation, serves, experience, turn, build, ready, enlightened
SPEAKER
Chad Ratliffe
Chad Ratliffe 00:00
Okay, so what is ship stand for S is for self awareness. H is for health. AI is for introspection, and P is for programming. So the naked parenting framework of building your ship is self awareness, health, introspection, and programming. You just have to like make a decision within yourself, you know, ask, can I commit to myself for change? Am I ready to commit to something new? Or do I like my life enough the way it is and then just carry on right? But if you want changes, you have to commit to becoming different because the same brain that got you into the life that you have today, it can't change your life for you, you have to become a new person, you have to become a different person. Welcome to the daily naked parent podcast brought to you by rocket blue.
00:58
The first ever brand focused on supporting parents with special needs children. Naked parent nation is a group of parents with special needs children, who are willing to give honorable, stripped it all down and take a look at ourselves, our parenting, our family and our plans create a life beyond our wildest dreams.
Chad Ratliffe 01:26
On today's show, we'll be discussing the naked parenting path part two. Hello naked parent nation and welcome to today's episode of The Naked parent podcast. My name is Chad ratliffe, and I'm your host. Before we get into the path part two, little message from naked parent nation naked parent nations a worldwide community of parents and professionals, raising children with all kinds of needs, we come together to share our Naked Truth, support our fellow parents and inspire the inner growth that each of us needs to build the life and family of our dreams. For the parents that are struggling, we want you to know that we will love you until you can love yourself.
For your children we pray and send power from our collective group. Naked parenting is the process of moving from where you are to where you want to be naked parents and understands that the mind is responsible for all of our problems. As you shed the layers of your old programming and beliefs, you will return to the deepest truths of your own being. Do what you've always done and receive the life you are living, or create the vision you want for your family and your future. Combine that with an elevated emotion support from our community and you can live a life of your dreams and beyond. We have the power to create any kind of life we want for ourselves and our families. We do this by living in the naked present moment, one day at a time. This is your first time connecting with us. I hope you feel the love that's here for you. Together, we walk different paths side by side. So before we get to the path, part two, let's just take that moment for ourselves.
We'll do a little pranayama a little breathing something that we can go to when we need a break when we need to create that space, that separation from whatever it is that our heart can't handle at the particular time. So if you want to sit straight are just comfortable and get your back straight. Let your eyes fall closed and lift your gaze to that space between your eyebrows. And we're going to take a few breaths and when we breathe in, I want you to tense your body and your muscles and your fists and hold your breath at the top. Imagine it coming to the crown of your head and hold it in. Tense all your muscles and then when we exhale, you relax and let everything go. Okay.
So inhale and tense hold exhale, relax. Inhale intense. Hold in, exhale and relax. This last time, really tense and really hold. Inhale intense and then exhale Let everything go sit in the piece that's created. As you've released some energy that was tensed up inside of you feel your body, listen and feel for your heartbeat it's a great way to start meditation, it's great to do on its own, if you just need to release some energy. I think we don't realize often that when we feel not the way we want to feel, it's some kind of energy that's not flowing properly, is when the energy is flowing in and up. We feel good. And when we feel good, we like life. And all too often we don't feel good.
Which is how this show came about. So welcome. Welcome to the naked parenting path. Part two. If you didn't get a chance to see part one, we'll put it down in the show notes so you can check it out. So naked parents in path part two, let's talk about it. It's easy to get caught up in life and forget what we're doing who we are. What's important to us. For many of us, we might not even know who we are. Or we might have some idea that after following the naked parenting path, we come to learn, we didn't realize we didn't know who we were so explore. If you fit into this category, if you're unsure, don't be discouraged. You know, I didn't discover who I was, until many near death experiences, an obscene number of visits to jail. I am not proud of multiple trips to the psych ward. And the list goes on.
You know, my history is filled with the kinds of things that you never ever, ever thought what happened to you or be part of your story. But they're part of my story. And I can say that today, I'm grateful that I found out how to use these experiences in a positive way. Today, they're not regrets they were opportunities to learn and grow. I've always been interested in spirituality. Although the religion I was raised with I feel traumatized me. My family owned a Christian counseling agency. And you might say that I was bad for business by the first part of the story I just told you about.
But the rules and the doctrine and what they were talking about it just never jive with me. It just didn't make sense. When I would question the leadership, I would get answers that just felt like bullshit felt like they were dodging the question. And I've always been a super feeling type of person. You know, some would say that I'm an empath. Others would say I can read people really well, that I care that I'm kind hearted. I'm extremely passionate. And I speak the truth, I speak what I see. I say what I see. And that side of my life, the side that speaks the truth has created a lot of friction throughout my life. It's also a quality that people admire about me. I've always considered myself a street smart person.
And the whole religion thing that I was being served up, didn't digest for me. Today, I focus a little bit more on what I hear them called compassionate communication. So something may be true or I feel it might be true. I'm realizing that it doesn't mean I have to introduce it in a way that offends somebody. Life's hard enough. You know, we don't need constructive criticism, in the feeling that somebody's throwing darts at the way we operate or the way we act. Throughout my life. I've sought different spiritual paths at different times for different reasons, sometimes more sometimes. times less. And naked parent teen is the story and practice of the truth that I found. Naked parent teen consists of history, laws, insights, that when I read about them or learn about them or practice, they settle for me. When I learned these things, it felt true even if I didn't know why it felt true. You know, have you ever had that feeling that you know, something is a certain way, and you don't even necessarily know why. That's how this spiritual path of naked parenting unfolded for me. And it's felt that way on many occasions, and continues to feel that way as naked parenting develops. But through meditation, through study and contemplation, my truth has evolved, and so has the naked parenting path. Now I've come to find a large community that's stoked on naked parenting. And together, we're creating new channels and awareness and insights.
And it's awesome. That's all I can say. And together, we're creating the naked parenting way, naked parenting, it originated from parents raising special needs children, many of the challenges of being a parent raising special needs children. As you know, if you're a parent, raising a special needs child can push you to the edge of your ability. That's been the case for me. It's tested my patience, it's tested my perseverance, faith. And it's pushed my heart to the point that I've now had the dark night of the soul more than once. There's something profound about that moment at the edge of the plank, when you're just as far from jumping as you are, from getting back to safety. And on one side, is the belief that there's freedom from the pain, from the suffering and from the loneliness.
And then on the other side is your children and finding out who you really are. And what you're really capable of. Often, in life, people don't change until the pain of the same is worse than the pain of change. Maybe you've heard that before. It's easy to get comfortable. Even when it's accepting a life that is less than appealing, and sometimes, just outright shitty. Some have to lose family members, some have to get cancer, have their longtime spouse, leave them for another person, or some other major life event before you get pushed to test the limit of your ability to shake you up enough that you need to find another way. And as you'll learn as the naked parenting pillars unfold as the book comes out, and you read about the pillars, you'll see that we're often tested by life. And we're tested by what our heart can and can't handle a challenge for one person's a blessing for another. It's our ability to open our heart, feel what there is to feel, and then allow it to pass on through.
I'm not saying you shouldn't feel sad when you lose a loved one when you lose a loved one. But I am saying that we shouldn't have to turn to addiction, anger or isolation in order to deal with it. So naked parent team was founded after I chose to walk off the plank back to safety back to my kids. And back to the life I've created and continue to create today. It's the mountain we've all faced or are facing. It's that common thread that smacks us in the face so hard, and either knocks you out, or wakes you the fuck up. It becomes that thing that we all share that led us to the gift that these pillars will share with you, if implemented. This path will help you turn your tragedy into a gift. And my hope is that this path not only helps you create and live a life you're excited to live, but that it takes the most challenging thing you've ever faced and turns it into the greatest gift you've ever received.
As with both choices, jumping, or turning back, whatever choice you make will have tremendous impact on you and your family and your community and the world. And if you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not you know, continue long enough and follow the path and keep going stay on long enough, so the miracle can happen. I'm so excited for you, whether it be this path or another path. I hope you find something that feels true and allows you to be present and joy filled as you walk. This journey of life with your children. It's the process of getting rid of everything that doesn't serve us, you will learn and deepen your understanding of who you truly are. When you strip away the materialistic world we live in naked parenting is a non religious path to creating and living a life beyond your wildest dreams. That's it. The Naked parenting path welcomes your religion, it welcomes your ethnicity, your sense of humor, your values in any and all diversity possible.
As we strip away that it's not serving us, we come to see that we aren't as different as we thought we were, we all want to be happy, we all want to feel good. And underneath everything we want is the desire to feel okay, in our own skin, we often want things because of how others perceive us. We might want a bigger house or to travel the world. But really, we want those things because we believe they will improve our lives and make our lives more enjoyable to live. We think that if we only had that house, we'd be happy. And I'm sure you've had many experiences like I have, where you finally, summit that mountain that you've been trying to get to the top of for so long only to find out that when you get to the top of it, there's a short window of happiness, or sometimes no happiness at all, before the next climb begins.
Life is a series of these events. And guess what we're blessed to experience them. And although if you're like me, in order to recognize the blessing, a lot of personal work had to be done before I was able to agree that life and these experiences are a blessing. And then as life unfolds, you know, we make choices and participate in life, and different paths at whatever level we choose. And a path. The way I'm defining it is a way to experience things. There are infinite paths for variety of things. And the path need not be defined. But in my opinion, a good path is one where you can measure and test ways of interacting for a desired results. A good path, again, in my opinion, would be one that's easy to follow is within your capabilities and makes you feel good. Inside a path worth pursuing is one that introduces you to people who have what you want. And if this path is right for you, then my suggestion is to follow it until it no longer serves you. Let your intuition illuminate the path for you. It'll be different for everybody.
So if you decide to continue the journey with us continue the naked parenting path with us. Then I want you to remember the story about a boy who goes to a Zen master. And he says Master, I know you have many students. I know you have many students. But if I study harder than all the rest of your students, how long will it take me to get enlightened? The master looked at him, said 10 years, the boy said, but what if I worked day and night? Then how long? The master said 20 years, the boy said, I mean with further achievement with everything I got. And the master looked him dead in the eye and said 30 years. The boy was bummed at that point. And he's like, Why do you keep adding years and the master said, Well, since you will have only one eye on the goal there will only be one eye left to have on the work and it will slow you down immeasurably.
So whatever the practice are teaching. Don't forget that the ego likes to ambush the appropriate spirituality for its own survival and gain. This is a quote from Choi Yong, Chun PA, from cutting through spiritual materialism. And again he says whatever the practice or teaching, the ego likes to ambush the appropriate spirituality for its own survival and gain. Whatever the practice or teaching, the ego likes to ambush the appropriate spirituality The, for its own survival in game. So let's talk about red flags of any path that you're looking into some flags would be numbing emotions, repression, and avoidance, and unhealthy obsession and attachment to positive thinking. Where it's almost passive aggressive, you know, like that pleasant mask, if people are being blind or overly tolerant and compassionate to the detriment of themselves or others paths that you see people trying to forcefully kill their ego and condemn it as bad or evil and that, you know, try to pretend like it doesn't exist. Exaggerated detachment getting stuck in theoretical spirituality and dogmatic beliefs about truth, denial of personal responsibility by placing it on a superior being delusions of having reached a higher level of being, using spiritual practices to escape unpleasant emotions, for example, using meditation to disassociate from emotions rather than transmuting them. Because this work is about transmuting, what's in front of us into what serves us paths where there's grandiosity where people talk about instant transformation have that preached the never ending cycle of self improvement, book after book after philosophy after book it and, and it's just just more more more information that you need before you can have a good life.
Narcissism. You know, and these are a few of the flags to look out for. So for me, as for my experience, I started with a path that felt true, that felt attainable. I try to remember that nothing's perfect in life except life itself. And at the place that I was when I sought out a path, just about any path would have been better than the one I was on, that's for sure. And as my practice deepens about, naked parenting, as the naked parenting movement, connects with more souls, I'm starting to see how higher intelligence and or higher beings are helping to guide and build the trail. Oftentimes, people say that something is, you know, seems spiritually influenced.
And I feel very strongly that naked parenting and this movement is being spiritually guided and supported and led. I'm just a conduit of what's coming through. Another quote, I really, really like is, it's good for me to remember, and it's by anonymous person, and it says, The danger is that your mind will want to acquire Samadhi even more dangerous is that your mind might think it has acquired Samadhi. So we don't go around talking about getting enlightened, you know, save enlightenment for the great ones, the Masters, you know, Yogananda, Jesus, Krishna. And if you end up becoming enlightened, let others use that term, rather than you using it to describe yourself, okay? It's important that you make sure you don't get into something where you feel trapped, or you feel trapped in your expectations about the practice. If you feel inspired, if you feel connected, then begin the journey. And in your morning meditation, ask for personal guidance.
Ask and You Shall Receive, ask, and the path will illuminate for you. It's so important that we do the work and ask for ourselves rather than just blindly taking somebody else's word for it. Because then we don't get the Juju. We don't get the magic. Like we talked about earlier. It's easy to get caught up in life and forget who you are and where you're going. For many. We might even not know who we are right at this very moment and I'm excited for you to learn because when I learned it, you know, kaboom love I've took on a different meaning it's just been amazing. But the best part is that it doesn't matter where you are, you could be bankrupt, you could be addicted, you can be divorced, you can be in the shittiest place possible. And this path can deliver you into a life that you've always dreamed of.
And beyond the model that you'll come to learn about, you know, it will identify and then teach you to stop listening to that voice in your head, you'll no longer play the materialistic ego driven game everyone else is playing, you will remove what's blocking you from seeing life as it truly is. The incessant cycle of I like this, I don't like this, which we call like and dislike will cease. It has to cease to be the way you experience the world. This incessant cycle of I like this, and I need more of this. And I disliked this and life's not working and I liked this person, I disliked this person, I mean it, we just make it impossible to have a good life. And we make it impossible to be in a peaceful state of being when we're with our children. Because we're so busy trying to get more of what we like and less of what we dislike. It's just nuts. Okay, so we'll get into that deeper, you know, and later pillars to come, you're going to learn how to get the energy moving in and up, rather than down and out. You're going to learn to open your heart, keep it open, and learn how to handle anything that gets thrown at you, so that your heart can handle it. And so you will feel some sadness, and you will feel happiness. But you won't get too high or too low, you'll come more balanced, it'll start to feel more balanced, you're going to build with this path, you'll build a solid foundation, okay? It's going to be customize that it's a solid framework that you're going to use, but you're going to be able to customize it so it fits specifically for you. You're going to be able to lead your family as a new person.
And trust me, your kids and everyone else will notice the changes. My kids go out of their way to help me make time for my meditation and these other things because they like the dad now so much more than the old dad, that they support me in helping me get to my practices today. So that I can continue being this person that they much much prefer. And I think others will say the same. So naked parenting helps you build your ship, capital S capital H capital I capital P. And once you build your ship, you get out there and sail the ocean, the ocean, all the people and all the things of the world. Okay, so what is ship stand for S is for self awareness. H is for health. AI is for introspection, and P is for programming. So the naked parenting framework of building your ship is self awareness, health, introspection, and programming.
You don't need to know any more than this right now. You just have to like make a decision within yourself, you know, ask, can I commit to myself? For Change? Am I ready to commit to something new? Or do I like my life enough the way it is and then just carry on, right? But if you want changes, you have to commit to becoming different because the same brain that got you into the life that you have today, it can't change your life for you. You have to become a new person, you have to become a different person. Okay? So are you willing to commit to yourself? Are you willing to commit to your family and to your children, that you're going to follow the steps of transformation and find out where it takes you. And if you're not ready, it's no judgement at all at all. Okay. We'll be here. This is a lifelong practice a lifelong journey. We'll be here whenever you feel called to the path. And the good news is the steps. They're not difficult. You don't have to be really smart. You don't have to have a life that looks a particular way. You can be in the trenches, like I said, bankrupt and addicted and angry as Fucking hell.
But if you're ready, this path will transform you and your family. and your life is no question about these are timeless practices and principles. It's spiritually inspired. And if you're not ready, save the effort. For another time when you are ready, don't half ass, don't come in half ass, be all in to find out where it's gonna take you. Okay? It makes me think of, if you're not ready, if the alcoholics not ready to quit, it's seemingly impossible to quit, right and take the action steps that are necessary when you're not sure if you want. I mean, it's a deep, deep addiction that you got to be all in, you got to want the change and want to transform and do what be willing to do whatever it takes for change. So, if you're not ready, then wait. But if you are ready, if you are ready, and you're able to take one step, and then take one action, and get the feedback, I mean, it's really that simple. Take one step, take one action, and get feedback from it, you're gonna get a little buzz, you're gonna get a little bit high from it, it's gonna feel good, you're gonna get some serotonin rushing into your brain, you don't know it.
But when you're getting that feeling, when you're getting that serotonin, the energy is flowing up is flowing in and up, it's flowing through your energy centers, which we're going to get into more as part of the naked parenting pillars, but you're going to start feeling good, it's going to feel like everything's okay, you're going to start feeling peaceful, for the first time. And as long as I can remember, I feel okay about myself. I like who I am. And then you take that feedback, and you take another step, and you make another effort. And slowly, your actions turn into behaviors, and your behaviors turn into habits and habits, they change your personality. And when your personality changes, so does your personal reality. Okay? And then along with your newfound knowledge, and your spiritual practices that has transformed your life, and everything that you knew about yourself in life, all the way down to knowing who you are, compared to where you were before, it's going to be amazing. But when the alcoholic is not ready to stop drinking, then don't pass judgment. Just wish them a fucking great party. We should all wish everyone whatever their version is, have a great party, and then lead by example. And then have an open door policy so that whenever one of our soul brothers and sisters are ready, we'll be available.
You know, but right now, this is you, this is on you. This is your decision. This is are you ready? Are you ready? Before you decide, there's the path part three, it's going to come next week. Okay, it's going to shed more light on that framework of building your ship, the naked parenting framework of building your ship. But hopefully this gives you some more insight on the path. I hope you're excited. If you're not, like I said, put it on the shelf. And wait till you are we'll be here. But if you're excited, introduce yourself right into us. Let us know who you are. And we're excited to continue this journey together. I love you all. I admire your journey. I'm so excited to be where I am in life today. And I'm excited to engage with all of you. And together. We build our ships. We give our kids a beautiful life. And we enjoy the fuck out of it. How's that? All right, I'll talk to you guys next time.
34:07
This concludes our show for today. And I'd like to personally thank you for spending the time with us on a topic near and dear to our hearts. If you'd like to be part of the naked parent nation, and help us reach those parents that are struggling and overwhelmed, there's no better way to help them by subscribing rating and reviewing the show on iTunes. iTunes highlights the shows based on these metrics. And the more the show gets highlighted, the more opportunities people will have to be introduced to the show where they can hear that message of hope or that tip that can change everything. So follow the link in our show notes. And we hope to have you back here tomorrow where we'll do it again. From the team here at the naked parent podcast we wish you the life you've always dreamed of and then some so long
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