Teaching #Mindfulness to Your Kids. Learning to Stop and Smell the Roses.

Hey there,

If you have seen the latest TIME magazine you probably noticed that this concept we called mindfulness seems to be popping up everywhere.  It's not just invading newsstands but in pop culture, therapy, yoga, and more.  So what is it and how can it help?  Simply put the practice of mindfulness describes the act of being present.  It means paying attention to your thoughts without judgment.  It is focusing on what you're doing at the moment without paying attention to the extraneous noise in your head.  Remember the old adage "stop and smell the roses"?  If you are like most busy parents it probably is very hard to recall the last time you stopped to experience the beauty of a rose with all your senses. But you should!  Mindfulness has been associated with a number of positive health benefits like decreased pain, anxiety and depression.  Mindfulness is not just beneficial for busy adults.  Teaching your kids to practice mindfulness can help them de-stress after a super packed day. With kids being over-scheduled and over-stimulated the practice of multi-tasking is taking precedence.  While multi-tasking isn't an inherently bad thing it is good for kids to learn what it feels like to sit still and experience their thoughts and sensations.  Mindfulness can help them stay in the present moment, enjoy and accept their experiences, and learn better control of their feelings.  So take this moment to not only become more mindful yourself but to teach your kids this helpful practice!

Here are some tips to get you started:

1.  Set aside a time to practice being mindful.
2. Teach kids about recognizing their internal voice or thought.  For example, "When I look at the sun I think how bright and yellow it is."
3. Teach kids to stay in the present by paying attention to their thoughts and filtering out the noise.  I like using the example of a radio dial.  
When we pay attention to the present moment it's like tuning the radio to a channel that comes in clear.  For instance, when we pay attention to the sun we are experiencing it with all our senses, how it looks, how it feels on our skin, etc, and the channel comes in clear. When we look at the sun and start to think about how bright the sun should be, we start thinking about the times when the sun was brighter and are no longer in the present moment.  When we leave the present moment we are not paying attention to what is going on around us and it's like hearing a lot of static on the radio.
5. Pick 1 thing to do with your kids to practice being mindful where they engage all their senses.  For instance go for a walk on the beach or take a bubble bath at bedtime.
6. Model being mindful for your kids by describing each sensation vividly and concretely every step along the way.
7. Redirect any questions, thoughts, or judgments back to the present.  For example,  "Oh no i'm starting to hear some static let's tune the radio dial back to the present".
8. Practice. 
9. Practice.
10. Practice. 

Dr. S