Direct link: https://globalnews.ca/video/5676297/how-to-raise-mindful-children
Happy International Self-Care Day!
And I couldn’t think of a better day to discuss mindfulness than on this day. After all, mindfulness (a form of meditation), is indeed a form self-care.
Mindfulness has almost become THE word of 2019. But what is it, and does it work?
Well it does, and as a yoga instructor and life coach, this morning I shared some mindfulness exercises you can teach your children to help them feel calm when they feel stressed or anxious. What we teach our kids now, become their tools for life.
Simply put, mindfulness is bringing your awareness and breath and attention to the present moment and your surroundings, allowing thoughts to come and pass without judgement.
Jon Kabat Zinn, one of the pioneers in meditation and mindfulness was the one who inspired me to get started years ago – sitting crosslegged in silence with my eyes closed for 10 minutes witnessing my breath, staying in the present moment. If worries came up, I simply witnessed them, let them float on by and returned to my breath. I would set a timer and notice how completely different I felt. Then I would get up gradually.
Mindfulness isn’t a hokey pokey concept as some people may have thought of in the past, and I believe this is proof of integration in everyday society. New Bedford police are now using mindfulness before morning and evening shifts to help relieve stress.
Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro said he is a firm believer in the benefits of meditation. “It is important for officers to have a tool they can access any time to reduce their stress level,” he said in a written statement.
There have been many positive studies on mindfulness. A Harvard study showed that mindfulness changes the brain in depressed patients.
This is big stuff, girls.
So, I encourage you to watch this morning’s segment above on different mindfulness exercises you can do with your child to eventually teach how to bring THEMSELVES to a state of calm anytime they need it.
And finally, in all the mindfulness talk, you can see somewhere in the middle of the segment, I had my own mindLESS moment. I guess summer has me losing my train of thought? 😉
Again, Happy International Self Care day! Celebrate you, care for you, make time for you, everyday. What will you do for yourself today as an act of self-love?
