What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a method used to focus on the present moment. This means paying attention to what is happening in the moment, and not drifting towards the past or the future. There are different ways to practice mindfulness: meditation, breathing exercises, or simply reflecting on or noticing your thoughts and feelings in the moment. It is also important to be curious and POSITIVE about what is happening in the moment. Be positive and kind to yourself and everyone around you. Practising mindfulness is good for counteracting and better managing stress, anxiety and depression.
Do children need mindfulness?
The answer is: yes! Children's daily lives can also be stressful. Preschool and school are filled with activities, new things to learn and maybe even homework and tests. Then there are extra-curricular activities that can contribute to a stressful and busy day. Mobile phones and tablets often take up a lot of time and prevent you from being able to focus on the present and be mindful. Increased screen time can contribute to stress and poor well-being in children. Children are learning new things all the time and their brains are developing at a rapid pace. Therefore, it is particularly important for children to stop, recover and reflect on all the new things they have learnt. Being bored and doing nothing is sometimes as important as learning and developing!
How to practise mindfulness with children
As mentioned, mindfulness is a great way to combat stress, but it has many other positive effects too. For example, it can lead to improved sleep, increased self-confidence and better concentration. There are many ways to practise mindfulness.
3 tips on mindfulness for children
- Practise taking 3-5 minutes of silence at the table before you start eating.
- Children can, together with their nanny Take a walk in the forest and try to pay attention to everything that happens in the moment. Listen to the sounds in the forest, do breathing exercises, try to find different colours, shapes and animals and make up games.
- Or you can just take a break from everything and do a breathing exercise! Focus on your breathing and try to control it or count the seconds of each inhalation and exhalation.
