Mindfulness

Mindfulness is defined as the following: Being focused in the present moment with full awareness and without judgement. Practicing mindfulness activities allows both children and adults to remain in the present moment in order to regulate emotions and avoid or lessen extreme emotions (e.g. stress, anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, etc.) as well as reactions to these emotions.  Since emotions are typically in response to past or future events, being mindful of the present moment helps people to slow down.  A good visual of this can be seen below:

Mindfulness is not spiritual nor does it need to be done with the eyes closed.  It can be done while in the car, at the store, or before falling asleep.  Mindfulness has been found to lower blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate.  It can enhance concentration and attention as well as improve critical thinking, the ability to inhibit impulses, and the ability to cope with stressful situations.  All people can benefit from engaging in mindfulness activities for five minutes (or more) per day.  By teaching children that they have the power to regulate their emotional responses and reactions, we are providing them with healthy life-long skills.  The following YouTube clip discusses the deep breathing aspect of mindfulness:

When I introduce mindfulness to children, I explain that everyone feels all emotions and that emotions are not bad. Emotions serve a function and our present in our lives for a reason. Although we have no control over how we feel in most instances, we do have control over how strongly we feel these emotions as well as whether or not we let these emotions "take over" or control our brains.  I am able to better explain this to students by referencing the character Anger from the movie Inside Out.  I discuss with children what happens when Riley (another character in the movie) allows Anger to take over her brain (e.g. she yells, engages in tantrum-like behaviors, makes rude comments or using an inappropriate tone of voice, etc.) and what happens to her when she engages in these behaviors (e.g. she gets into trouble, she gets grounded, etc.).  We then discuss how it is okay to be angry but we need to practice mindfulness in order to avoid anger taking over and making it hard for us to solve the problem in a good or healthy manner.  We call this using our Wise Mind (vs. our Emotional Mind).  

Before learning different mindfulness strategies, feel free to watch the video below in order to learn about mindful sitting.

To explore the virtual mindfulness room, feel free to click on the picture below!

As a note of caution, kids can access YouTube through some of these videos so please be sure to monitor your child when exploring this virtual room.

Feel free to watch a presentation on mindfulness by clicking on the attachment below!