Mindfulness is one of the best techniques to help combat mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Take a break from scheduling your fishing trip with Outdoor Solutions and read about how to help your children be more mindful.
Here are 4 tips to teach your children mindfulness in everyday life!
Easy Meditation Practices
One of the wonderful things about meditation is that it is designed for everyone – kids included! Mindfulness meditation has a slew of positive benefits like teaching kindness, compassion, and self-awareness. Incorporating this ancient practice into your daily routine with your children is sure to help their mental health as they navigate through childhood and beyond.
Once your child reaches the age of 7, you should begin to help them learn simple, mindfulness meditation techniques. The easiest would be to have them become aware of their breath – the inhale and exhale. As they get older, you can incorporate some more meditation techniques like awareness of the thoughts that enter their minds.
Mindfulness Journaling
Journaling is a great resource, for children and adults alike, to help incorporate mindfulness into everyday life. Writing down feelings and thoughts helps children to acknowledge and organize what’s going on inside of them. In doing so, they will be more well-equipped to handle stressful situations that come along as they get older.
You’ll want to teach your child to journal in a way that helps them conjure up peace and awareness. It’s important to not put too many requirements on their journaling time. This is meant to help them have a safe space to express how they feel. This also means that you shouldn’t try and sneak a peek at their daily journals. You want to give your child the privacy that they deserve.
Encourage Creativity
Creativity has shown to have a profound impact on mental well-being. Encouraging your children to tap into their creative sides is an easy way to help teach them about mindfulness. When we create, we put all of our focus on what we’re making. It allows us the freedom and space to use our imagination in a way that promotes mindfulness and focus.
There are many methods in which you can explore with your children to help them be creative. Writing, painting, and drawing are common and easy ways to get your child to express their creativity. Just be sure to find something that they enjoy doing. After all, you don’t want to force something on them that they don’t find pleasure in during. This could backfire and cause more unease and stress on them.
Spend Time in Nature
There’s no better way to fully embrace the present moment than by stepping outside. Research continues to show that nature helps to regulate our emotions, lower our heart rate, and feel less stressed. By doing so, it’s a great way to tap into our mindfulness.
Spend time with your children outside and invite them to connect with their surroundings. Help them to learn how to appreciate the singing birds, the falling leaves, and the blue sky. Nature offers a perfect place to teach your children the healing practice of mindfulness.