3 Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids: A Guest Post by Meditate with Me: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Journey Author Mariam Gates
Meditate with Me: A Step-By-Step Mindfulness Journey
Hardcover $18.99
Meditate with Me: A Step-By-Step Mindfulness Journey
By
Mariam Gates
Illustrator
Margarita Surnaite
In Stock Online
Hardcover $18.99
Kids are naturally mindful. Sure, a lot of them are more comfortable on a wrestling mat than a yoga mat, but they are wired for focus. It is how they learn. Have you ever seen a four year-old collect shells or a seven year-old put together a space station out of Legos? What about the way a toddler examines every aspect of a new food? Given the right circumstances, kids know how to pay attention.
Kids are naturally mindful. Sure, a lot of them are more comfortable on a wrestling mat than a yoga mat, but they are wired for focus. It is how they learn. Have you ever seen a four year-old collect shells or a seven year-old put together a space station out of Legos? What about the way a toddler examines every aspect of a new food? Given the right circumstances, kids know how to pay attention.
I wrote Meditate with Me: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Journey as a ‘How to’ for kids. I wanted to create a fun, playful and easy way to start practicing mindfulness the moment you pick up the book, and to help children develop the tools they need to meet all of the moments in their lives.
Whether it’s a new school year, an argument with a sibling or just the daily stresses of an over-scheduled life, we all find ourselves in situations where we just need to slow down. We need tools to pause and notice to what is happening and what we are feeling. Just one deep breath can add much-needed space between our reactions and actions.
As a parent, I understand that life is busy, and that in the race from breakfast to bedtime, it can be hard for families to catch their breath—literally. The good news is, it doesn’t take a lot to get benefits from mindfulness. Taking a moment to pay attention to where you are and how you are feeling helps calm down the fight or flight reaction in the brain. Over time, mindfulness practices can help build empathy and emotional stability in children as well as increasing their ability to pay attention in classroom settings.
Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids:
1) Start with the Body: Using the body and the senses is a great way to pay attention to the present moment. Have kids place one hand on the chest and one on the belly to actually feel the breath as it moves in and out. Noticing how different emotions feel in the body is also a great awareness tool. ‘What does happy feel like in your body?’ ‘What does sad feel like?’ Where do you feel it?
2) Make it Fun: Mindfulness does not need to be serious or quiet to be beneficial. Try a squeeze and release exercise to release tension. Take a walk and notice how many things you can hear in nature. There are so many ways to develop present-moment awareness. Let it be something you enjoy-together.
3) Don’t Worry About What It Looks Like: There are always opportunities to take a breath and notice where your feet are on the ground. Be open to those moments. You don’t need to set aside 30 minutes a day to get the benefits. If you can take even 5 seconds to notice the way the light is coming into the room or the temperature of the air on your skin you are practicing mindfulness. It is that simple and can have a lasting positive effect on everyone in the family.
Meditate with Me: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Journey is on B&N bookshelves on August 29.