Mindfulness in Children: How to Make It Part of Family Life
Mindfulness in Children
Many of us are looking to be more in tune with how we feel, our thoughts, and our actions in life. As a family, you may want to encourage mindfulness and this can be very effective when it comes to your children. We all know that from a young age, children start to engage with their thoughts and feelings as they learn to understand their emotions. Mindfulness can play a vital role to help them stay calm, collected, and happy within themselves and their environment. Mindfulness can also help them process tougher emotions.
But how can you make mindfulness part of family life and keep your children engaged in the idea of it? Here are some suggestions.
Create Calming Spaces for Quiet Time
One of the first things you can do is create a calming space for quiet time. For children, this could be an area in their bedrooms where they can go to be quiet, enjoy reading, or just relax and unwind from a busy day. Make sure it has lots of cushions, blankets, and some of their favourite things to encourage them to use it often.
Practicing Meditation Can Be Very Helpful
Meditation can be a hard thing to grasp in adulthood, however, as children, our minds are a little more open to it. It’s a great exercise to help clear your mind and make sense of thoughts and feelings. Children can embrace meditation through guided options. They tend to tell a story and explain thoughts and feelings in a child-friendly way that will enable them to make the most out of it. There are apps that you can download to help you introduce this into the family routine. You can also look up guided meditations on YouTube.
Help Kids to Learn Mindfulness Techniques
It could be a good time to help integrate some mindfulness techniques into your children’s routines. Things like counting their breaths, stopping to be aware of sights, sounds, and smells, and even help them to move and stretch. These things are very simple but can make such a difference to how they feel and provide great coping mechanisms for tricky situations.
Encourage Time Spent Outdoors and in Nature
Another great way to add mindfulness into your daily life is to encourage more time spent outdoors and amongst nature. A simple family walk in the woods, a trip to the park, or being in the garden as much as possible will help you and your children to feel calmer and more in tune with how you feel. We all know that exercise and being more active can help; walks outside will do your family’s mental health the world of good. If you children aren’t up for a walk, set out a large blanket under a tree in your backyard and let them simply lay down to look up the clouds for a while. They will benefit from the fresh air and screen break.
Lead by Example
Finally, try and lead by example where possible. The more your children see you practicing mindfulness techniques and actively trying to feel happier and calmer each day, the more it will help them to understand how to react and help themselves in the future. It is also a great way to show your children how to process things and deal with challenging situations.
Hopefully, these tips will help you when it comes to working on mindfulness and incorporating it into your family life.
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