Practicing Mindfulness with your Family
What is Mindfulness? According to Wikipedia “Mindfulness is the cognitive skill of sustaining meta-awareness on the contents of one's own mind in the present-moment without conceptual reification.” Try explaining that to your five year old!
Let’s simplify it a little bit, in short, Mindfulness means living in the present moment. That’s something a bit easier to explain and understand! How can we teach that to kids? I am so glad you asked 😜 keep reading to find out!
Before we begin it’s important to mention why Mindfulness is good for kids to know. Teaching kids Mindfulness can result in strengthening their well being and their ability to respond to the stresses of life with openness as well as compassion for themselves and others. Practicing mindfulness can also result in improved attention span and cognitive development as well as deepened emotional skills and regulation.
No matter the age of your child(ren) you can begin to implement Mindfulness in your daily life through many simple ways. Here are six easy ways/activities to start practicing and teaching Mindfulness in your home today!
Listening Walk:
A listening walk is just taking a stroll with your child as you pay attention to your surroundings and talk about what you see. It's a wonderful way for your child to l find items in familiar areas that they haven't noticed previously. You and your kids can learn and practice patience and living in the present moment just by taking a walk in your neighborhood!
Meditation:
An easy way to introduce meditation is by teaching the STOP method to your children. The following steps are a popular and extremely basic exercise that teaches children the fundamentals of mindfulness and meditation.
Stop – everything, and take a brief moment to pause, no matter what you are doing.
Take – a deep breath. Pay attention to the feelings of breathing, and bring yourself back to the present moment.
Observe – how you feel, what is happening around you, and what is happening in your head. Notice how you feel, and whether good or bad, give it a moment of attention.
Proceed – after taking a moment to ground yourself, continue what you were doing.
Yoga:
Moving our bodies and noticing how we are feeling is a perfect example of being mindful. Yoga is a great way for kids to pay attention to their bodies and also get some wiggles out! Try some simple yoga movies like Downward Dog, Tree Pose, or Chair Pose to exercise your bodies and practice your Mindfulness.
Breathing:
There are a few different ways to practice breathing in order to be more mindful.
Belly Breathing - Take a minute to practice belly breathing with your kids. Put one hand on the stomach and the other on the chest. Like a balloon, expand your belly as you inhale, then let it collapse as you exhale. The body's natural calming response is triggered by belly breathing and will help everyone feel calmer and more relaxed!
Intentional Breathing - Teaching your children to focus on their breathing is an easy method to calm their minds. Urge them to shut their eyes and concentrate on breathing in and out. When their thoughts stray, encourage them to come back to focusing on their breathing. Another easy way to focus on intentional breathing is by counting breaths out loud together.
Demonstrate Breathing - Explain how you notice, name, and use your breath to help yourself relax. Talking out loud and saying “I feel like I have a lot going on right now. I need to take a step away and take some calm breaths.” This is such a great example for your kids of practicing Mindfulness and will help you apply it!
Books:
Another way to encourage and help your kids understand mindfulness is reading books about it. Check out these Picture Books to encourage Mindfulness ;“Breathe Like a Bear” is one of our favorites!
Senses:
Finally, this idea from Growing Early Minds is an amazing way for kids to learn and be aware of each of their five senses.
“This exercise makes practicing mindfulness easy in nearly any situation. All you need to do is notice something you’re experiencing with each of the five senses.
Follow this order:
Notice five things you can see.
Look around you and bring your attention to five things you can see. Pick something you don’t normally notice, like a shadow or small crack in the concrete.
Notice four things you can feel.
Bring awareness to four things you are currently feeling, like the texture of your pants, the feeling of the breeze on your skin, or the smooth surface of a table you’re resting your hands on.
Notice three things you can hear.
Take a moment to listen and note three things you hear in the background. This can be the chirp of a bird, the hum of the refrigerator, or the faint sounds of traffic from a nearby road.
Notice two things you can smell.
Bring your awareness to smells that you usually filter out, whether they’re pleasant or unpleasant. Perhaps the breeze is carrying a whiff of pine trees if you’re outside, or the smell of a fast food restaurant across the street.
Notice one thing you can taste.
Focus on one thing you can taste right now, at this moment. You can take a sip of a drink or eat something, notice the current taste in your mouth, or even open your mouth to search the air for a taste.”
We hope that these ideas can help you and your family practice Mindfulness and be more present in everyday moments!
Do you have any other ways that your family practices Mindfulness? Dm us on Instagram; we would love to hear them!
As always, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more blog posts and don’t forget to subscribe to our monthly family newsletter here, follow us on Instagram, or like us on Facebook for more content!