Introducing Mindfulness in Children

Mindfulness exercises that may assist in calming your child

Research suggests that teaching mindfulness to children can help to improve attention, enhance social and emotional skills, increase resilience and reduce anxiety and stress. Mindfulness can be implemented throughout the child’s daily routine.

• Mindful walking and listening. This exercise simply involves just taking a walk with your child to a familiar place. This will help your child notice things that have not noticed before. Give your child the opportunity to choose a place such as a garden or a beach. Ask your child what sounds they hear and often ask them to close their eyes for a couple of minutes and then guess what they could hear.

• Breathing Mindfully. Ask your child to sit in a comfortable position and close their eyes. Ask them to breathe in 5 times and breathe out 5 times. You could ask them to keep their hands on their chest and feel the rise and fall of their breaths. Then on opening their eyes ask them how they are feeling and get them to imagine their feelings are bubbles that are floating away. Continue the inhale and exhaling as many times as you need.

• Mindful smells. Set up a variety of delicious-smelling items from around the environment such as fresh herbs, fruits, flowers, essential oils or candles. After they breathe ask them how they feel (smell of fruit could make them hungry).

It is worthwhile introducing your child to mindfulness practices and within a short time, they will practice this skill independently, giving them a strong foundation to explore the world.

Below is a video that may assist you while introducing your child to the mindfulness practice.

https://youtu.be/YKMHvGZk9tU

By Aileen Camara