Mindfulness Resources
Want to learn more about Mindfulness? Check out the resources below from a presentation I gave, alongside other SBSD staff, at the South Brunswick Parent Academy.
Take a pause and watch this video for five minutes of relaxation.
Grateful for the opportunity to be part of a chat with one of my long time role models, author of the book, Ten Mindful Minutes, Goldie Hawn. Below, she responded to my question and shared her insight on teaching children mindful breathing & the powerful role it can play in setting children up for success in life!
A fabulous article from Child Mind Institute on Mindful Parenting: Use Mindfulness Techniques to Take Stress and Anxiety Out of Raising Kids
Consider reading any of the following books with your children:
Cool Cats, Calm Kids by Mary Williams
A Bear and His Boy by Sean Bryan
Baby Rattlesnake by Lynn Moroney
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Stories on the Move: Integrating Literature and Movement with Children, from Infants to age 13 by Arlene Cohen
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christeltow
Earth Dance by Joanne Ryder
D.W. Flips Logan by Marc Brown
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein
Karate Hour by Carol Nevius
Anh’s Anger, by Gail Silver
Charlotte and the Quiet Place, by Deborah Sosin
Everybody Needs a Rock, by Byrd Baylor
If you Find a Rock, by Peggy Christian
The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story, by Uma Krishnaswami
The Lemonade Hurricane: A story of mindfulness and meditation, by Licia Morelli
The Listening Walk, by Paul Showers
The Quiet Book, by Deborah Underwood
Silence, by Lemniscates
The Sound of Silence, by Katrina Goldsaito
Steps and Stones - An Anh's Anger Story, by Gail Silver
Step Gently Out, by Helen Frost
Zen Shorts, by Jon Muth
Go Noodle offers a series of web-based videos, games, and activities that helps parents get moving with their children and brings mindfulness to any part of one's day.
Activities to Reinforce the Concepts of Mindful Awareness and the Differences between Mindful and Unmindful Behavior:
Discuss the following scenes of unmindful behavior and ask children what they think might happen next:
- A child is looking up at the sky and is about to walk into a tree..
- A child leaves the door open. A dog looks out the open door and sees a squirrel.
- A child is playing baseball. His or her shoes are tied in a sloppy way.
Mindful Behavior Activity:
Take time during the day to celebrate moments of your child's mindful behavior. Create a running chart of these celebrations, which might include statements such as:
- He or she thought before he acted.
- He or she focused while listening to a story.
- He or she took deep breaths to help focus on challenging homework.
Demonstration and Discussion: Toss pieces of crumpled paper around the trash can or recycling container. If children don’t initiate a conversation about the trash, start one yourself. Begin by catching yourself in the act of being unmindful and tossing another piece of paper on the ground. Ask children why it is important to be mindful of our environment and to keep it clean and free of trash.
You can say, “Oops! Look what I’ve done! What a mess! I wasn’t paying any attention to what I was doing. Would you help me put the paper in the trash can? Thank you.
Why is it important for us to be mindful of our environment? What would happen if acted in an unmindful way?
Mindful Movement Activities:
Mindful Walking:
What to Do: Ask children to walk slowly and deliberately around the classroom, focusing on how their legs and feet feel and what their arms are doing. Then have them increase their speed and repeat the process. Encourage them to compare the sensations in their bodies at the two speeds.
What to Say: We’re going to practice mindful walking. Let’s walk slowly around the room. As you walk, pay close attention to your body. How do your legs and feet feel? How do the other parts of your body feel? Now let’s walk faster. How do your legs and feet feel now? Has the way your body feels changed?
Why It’s Important: Mindful walking gives children a greater awareness of their body and the difference between various levels of exercise. They also become aware of how the different parts of their body work together and how their heart rate and breathing change with speed.
Music-On Your Feet:
What to Do: Choose a few pieces of music from different genres such as a polka, reggae, jazz, classical and rock. Play each piece and ask children to listen for 15-20 seconds. Then encourage them to get up and move to the music for a minute or so. End the activity by asking children about their responses to each pice of music and how they changed the way they moved to each piece.
What to Say: I’m going to play a piece of music for you. It’s called polka music. People enjoy dancing to it. Please sit and listen mindfully. When I give the signal, please stand up and move to the music. Continue to listen mindfully. Let the music tell your body how to move.
Why It’s Important: By listening and moving mindfully to music, children pick up the differences among different genres of music. You can help a child who responds strongly to a particular piece of music learn to use it to soothe or to energize his or her mind and body.
Good Posture, Good Thinking:
What to Do: Have children practice sitting upright, but not rigidly, with ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips and feet flat on the floor. Have children imagine that their head is a balloon, floating lightly about their shoulders. Explain that good posture will get oxygen to their brains to help them think.
What to Say: Remember that the heart is a muscle. When it beats, it sends blood through your body. Some of that blood goes to our brain and helps us think more powerfully. If we slump or slouch, the blood has a harder time getting to our brain.
Why It’s Important: Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the left side of the heart all over the body. Slouching can put a kink in the arteries alongside the neck, and the brain, especially the PFC, doesn’t get a full suppy of that oxygen-rich blood, making it harder to be mindful and focused.
Also...
- Encourage children to reflect on what they’ve learned about Mindful Movement:
- Look in books for pictures of people whose bodies are working hard. List the clues that show their bodies hard at work.
- Extend their thinking about Mindful Movement by talking about Balance