A nourishing six-week class for parents and pre-crawling babies, led by Nancy Petrin and Caroline Griswold

Parenting offers endless opportunities for practice. As parents we are presented with opportunities to meet our children anew moment after moment, for a lifetime. Establishing a relationship based in trust and respectful communication can begin from day one, giving us a foundation to meet the new and the unexpected in our children and in ourselves.  

Join longterm Zen practitioner Nancy Petrin and respectful-parenting educator Caroline Griswold for a six-week series to learn about and from your baby, be in community with other thoughtful parents, and consider ways to approach your parenting and child with openness and attunement. Parents and caregivers with pre-crawling babies are welcome. Space is limited due to the intimate setting of this class.

About the Class

In this series parents will have an opportunity to deepen their relationship with their babies and themselves, and consider ways to relate to their parenting as a spiritual path.

We will take time in each class for meditation, quiet observation of the babies, as well as for noticing how our babies are growing and changing week by week. Each class will include time for discussing how practice can look when we parent, and how we can relate to our child as one of our most important teachers. We will also explore ways to cultivate open and respectful communication with our babies from the very beginning, and how to allow for our child’s natural growth and development.

There will be time in each class for parents to get to know one another, and to share and ask questions about the daily joys and challenges of parenting.

Please bring a small blanket to place your baby on during the class.

Facilitators

Nancy Petrin began Zen practice in 1996 through the Organic Farm and Garden Apprenticeship at Green Gulch Farm, where she lived and practiced for nine years. During her time as a resident at GGF Nancy was very involved in the Children's & Family Programs as a leader of the Children's program and a mentor in the Coming of Age Program. After leaving GGF Nancy worked as a birth and postpartum doula, accompanying many couples in the transition to parenthood.  She served as head student (shuso) with City Center Abiding Abbot Ed Sattizahn in the fall of 2014 where she currently resides with her partner and 19-year-old-daughter.

Caroline Griswold is a respectful-parenting educator and coach. She helps parents find greater joy and connection with their children and grow into their parenting with grace, insight, and humor. She is passionate about bringing more ease and confidence to parenting, and facilitating respectful communication between parents and babies from birth. A lifelong educator, Caroline was inspired to pursue certification in Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach, or RIE® (www.rie.org) after experiencing how this respectful parenting approach transformed her relationships with her son and partner.

Location

San Francisco Zen Center
300 Page Street (x Laguna)
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dates and Times

This class is not currently scheduled. Please get in touch if you are interested in learning more about this course.