Mindfulness for Kids

What is mindfulness & why do we want to teach it to children?????
One of todays buzz words in the areas of health & wellbeing is mindfulness. If you research this it can do many things for all types of illness, stress, pain, exam or work pressure. So what exactly is it & how do we teach it to our children.?

Mindfulness in its simplest form can be described as awareness. Awarenes of what is going on around us, awareness of our physical bodies & awareness of our emotions. Also an awareness of our reactions. Being aware of what is happening now not living in the past or the future.
Being in The present moment is a little difficult for a child to understand howerver they will understand & be able to tell you about Right NOW.

Mindfulness in children can help to improve, attention, academic performance, reduce hyper activity, improve immunity, reduce behavioral problems & improve sleep patterns. It can also help children with autism, & ADHD.

Here are a few ways to introduce mindfulness in children

1 Go for a walk & notice all the noises, smells, sights etc and how they change.
(autumn is a lovely time to do this)
2. Talk about their day & how they feel
3 Let them lie down & talk them through a relaxation or simply put on some nice music they can close their eyes and relax.
4. Practice a breathing technique
5. Use a glitter bottle, shake it up and sit nice and quietly watching the glitter settle
6 Start a newtons cradle & watch it until it stops moving
7 sit quietly & watch the flame the fire or canndle

Finally remember we cannot teach mindfulness to our children if we do not practice ourselves
Children learn by example!