Mindfulness for Kids
Wouldn't it have been great if you would have been shown how to slow down and smell the roses in life when you were a kid? The truth is, kids need reminding of mindfulness as much as we do. Mindfulness will help them catch their own mistakes, calm down their energies and allow them to conquer more of their world.
Here are five tips to get your kid to be more mindful.
1. Ask questions about what they are experiencing
By asking questions about what they are noticing you are encouraging them to slow down and think about what they are doing. We spend a lot of time telling our kids about things. Asking them allows them to think about their point of view and start developing their own ideas about what life is all about.
2. Give them choices and then ask them why they made that choice
By now you have probably heard the importance of offering your children choices. If not, a good article on why this is important can be found here. But an added benefit to having choices and then discussing how you come to a choice helps children begin the art of self reflection. Allowing their mind to turn back on a choice they have already made and reflect on that choice as a process. It brings mindfulness into their decision making skills.
3. SLOW DOWN
No one can be clear under pressure. If there is too much going on, too quickly, all of your resources go to the action and things become automatic. When you slow down it allows your resources to turn inward as well as outward. You get a chance to think about what you are doing and experiencing. If your pace in life is quick (I know mine is) this may take some mindful effort on your part as well. Slowing down during a meal, homework or other day to day activities gives everyone a chance to take a breath.
4. Get a mindfulness routine going
Pick a time when your family will work on being mindful. If you set up a routine, you are more likely to focus on it. The best part is you can be mindful anywhere. You can drive to school and reflect on what the trees look like today or the air smells like. You can walk somewhere and notice how the air feels on your skin, the sounds that are in the air, the sensations in your body. Setting up a mindfulness routine will help teach your kids that mindfulness is an important commitment that you value.
5. Be a good role model
You know kids learn though the actions of their parents, not just the words. Demonstrating you being mindful is the best way to show kids how it is done. Wondering why you should care about mind, body, spirit alignment at all, read my article on HubPages.
