Ever watch a baby play? It’s fascinating just how attentive they are to everything that's going on around them. For them, everything is worth observing, everything is worth their attention. It's all so interesting.
When you watch them, you can’t help but feel somewhat envious of their state of bliss. They’re just enjoying this experience with all their physical senses - no judgement. Just curiosity, just pure observation.
This is mindfulness.
Add to that the many distractions of today's world, and it's no surprise that kids have such a hard time concentrating and focusing.
improve their concentrationincrease their focusfeel grounded and calmregulate their emotions
Here are a few easy ways to introduce mindfulness to your kids:
- Mindful walking: there is an opportunity to be mindful every time you walk outdoors. Get them to activate their senses by asking them to notice and list what they can hear, smell, see, or feel. This is a great exercise with younger children.
- Mindful listening: create a moment of silence and then ask them to notice all the sounds they can hear. This is a very calming exercise that can help re-center their focus when large emotions come through, or when the mind is overstimulated and overactive.
- Recap your day: at bedtime, recount the days' events and ask them to remember the positive elements of their day. As this becomes habit, they will learn to seek positive moments throughout their day and really be present in them. My kids are still little but this is a fun one for us and we include it in our bedtime routine.
Long story short - we definitely can all use some more mindfulness in our lives, so make the effort to try these practices out with your kids. It's a win win for everyone!
