I preach about mindfulness for grown-ups a lot. I often sum-up how one can be a more connected, responsive, peaceful parent by saying, “It’s a mindfulness practice.” Paying closer attention to the narrative you’re telling yourself will always yield growth.
Always.
If we have a stronger ability to slow ourselves when we get triggered and riled up, we will behave more often than not in ways that we feel proud of. The less mindful, the less personal power we have to stay in charge of ourselves when things get heated. Which they often do, right?
But what about mindfulness for kids?
My 8-year-old is lucky enough to attend a school where they actually teach kids mindfulness. Cool, I know. They start the day with 1, 2, or 3 minutes of still quiet. The teacher sets a timer, they all sit with eyes either open or closed. When the timer goes off, they play a fun game of trying to guess how much time they sat for. So much awareness building!
Quick story on how meaningful this practice can be in a child’s daily life. About a month ago, my husband sustained a minor forestry injury. He ended up being completely fine; no blood or broken bones. But there was a good 15 minutes of panic, terrified yelling, summoning neighbors, running around like crazy people, etc. My little one was left standing in our garage, staring down the hill at this flurry of activity. When we finally got my husband situated in my neighbor’s car for the ride to the emergency department, I ran up to check on my boy. He threw his arms around me, burst into tears and said, “Mom, that was so scary, I had to do my mindfulness practice to get through it.”
Wow.
What an incredible resource he had at his fingertips to help him stay calm. To be perfectly honest, he stayed calmer than I did!
To help support your child’s mindfulness practice, download this beautiful free app. Children can enjoy five wonderful meditations that plant the seeds for a lifetime
of benefits:
Sleep: Relax the body and the mind so that you can drift into a good night’s sleep.
Focus: Develop the ability to focus all of your mental power on what’s in front of you.
Feelings: Notice your feelings, bringing body and mind into harmony.
Kindness: Cultivate kindness to become a better friend to yourself and to others.
Centering: Learn how to quickly return to inner peace and confidence.
This great app is totally FREE. You can download it right here.
Check it out and let me know what you think. Need support getting more mindful yourself? Check out my Parent RESET Program . It’s a 28 day mindfulness and self-renewal program for you!
