Imagine for a moment that you are a soul immersed in the bliss of the Oneness of all that is. You are completely merged with Source and all other souls while still knowing yourself as an individual consciousness. You know without question that you are infinitely and individually loved. Whenever you desire to connect with another soul, immediately you are there beside them in a connection that is completely full and open. There is an unhindered mental telepathy between you, without even a shadow of secrecy. You feel a joyful unbounded curiosity, and you have complete access to Universal Knowledge. Whenever you desire a certain aspect of knowledge, it enters your awareness even as you ask the question. You feel an ecstatic ongoing contentment, for there is no fear and absolutely nothing is missing.

As souls existing beyond the physical realm, this is our lived experience in every moment. You’d think that we would never want to leave this blissful state, but at some point it seems that our boundless curiosity wins out, and we start to desire something different from the pure merging with the One. And we not only desire a different experience, we desire a very different experience. So we decide to really mix things up and enter a human body, which is an extraordinarily different kind of existence from the soul. Unlike the soul, which simply desires a never-ending union with the One, the body is confined to the material Earth realm and is profoundly focused on physical survival.

It is quite extraordinary that we would undertake such an endeavor, such an attempt to fuse into one these two diametrically opposed states of being, but that is exactly what we do. We choose a particular baby body to merge with, one whose life will give us the particular experiences we want to explore, and at some point before birth, we start the process of melding together with that baby. Over a period of time we attempt to bring together the two halves of ourselves to become a whole, integrated human being ready for life on this Earth.

However, the blending is never quite complete. The soul does not submerge itself completely in the body, but retains a certain access to its own consciousness. Because of this, it comes into its human life confidently expecting a continuation of the qualities of its existence in the Oneness.

It expects to exist as all the qualities of the soul, and to interact with other souls who are acting from these same qualities. It expects to be held in a field of kindness, compassion and unconditional love. It expects to be valued and respected for exactly who and what it is. It expects to feel a oneness, a complete connectedness with others who will see it with exquisite sensitivity while participating in a field of clear communication. And it expects to express and receive all of this through the medium of the little baby body it inhabits.

Unrealistic as this may sound to those of us on the earthly plane, there is in fact a perfect wisdom in the soul’s anticipations of its human baby life.

This is because what the soul so confidently expects is also what the baby needs for optimal development in every realm of her being. When the baby’s spiritual, emotional and physical needs are met with a loving, connected attunement, she is supported to express her greatest potential now and in the future.

The person who is usually first in line to meet the expectations of the new baby is her mother. The baby expects her mother to meet her spiritually-based expectations, and does her very best to communicate these needs and desires through her little baby body.

The most important gift that a mother can offer her little one is to see her through the eyes of unconditional love. When the baby feels as though the pure love of her soul is met with the pure love of the mother, it creates a beautiful echo of her recent existence as spirit. This allows the baby’s soul to feel at home, it tells her that her unfamiliar human body and emotions are fully acceptable, and it makes her feel safe in the bond of love.

As an earthly expression of the mind-to-mind communication of the spiritual realms, the mother also needs to be sensitively attuned and responsive to the baby’s needs, whatever they are, and however they are expressed. This not only helps the baby relax into trust and calmness, it assures that her physical and emotional needs are as fully met as possible.

The Oneness is best re-created when the mother keeps the baby close to her body at all times. This echoes the merging oneness of the spiritual realms that she has so recently left. It helps her feel that even though she is in a very different existence now, she can still trust the basic goodness of her new world, and can relax into a feeling of safety and trust. Just as the Oneness was ever constant, this closeness needs to be uninterrupted for her first year of life. She needs to be carried next to her mother’s body during the day, and sleep with her a night.

As an echo of the instantaneous mind-to-mind communication of the spiritual realms, the baby should always be immediately responded to when she cries. Her cry is always a call for loving attunement from her mother. She is asking the mother to sensitively discern whatever need she is expressing, and to meet it from a place of kindness. The mother needs to trust that every cry of distress is a valid communication from a little being who can only make her needs known through the body’s expressions.

When a baby and child is unconditionally loved for who she is, has all her needs and moods sensitively attuned to, and is kept close until she is ready to start venturing out for herself, she is not divided from the qualities of her spiritual self. She is a calm, happy, trusting child who feels free to fully express her abundant life energy, curiosity, love, playfulness and creativity. Her interest in the world is unencumbered, and her desire to learn about this earthly existence makes her an eager sponge for all the knowledge she can absorb. She becomes a confident, intelligent and capable human being.

She also grows up to be an adult who naturally manifests her spiritual qualities. She will be open and curious, and will value herself and others. She will trust in the fundamental goodness of the world of things and people, which will allow goodness and love to flow freely back to her. Because she knows what true love is like, she will be attracted to loving, healthy relationships with other loving people.

All mothers want their children to become happy, healthy human beings. It seems that the highest guidance for the most beneficial parenting comes from the child herself. What’s most important is that mothers do their very best to respond sensitively and lovingly to their baby’s needs, because those needs come from beyond and express the love of Source for the flourishing of all life on Earth.