From early childhood, mindfulness training can help in dealing with stress and anxiety. There is no age limit for feeling anxious. To excel in every task, kids, and teenagers feel pressured. Thinking too much leads to more thoughts, which later degrades the awareness of being in this moment.
For a healthy upbringing, a parent must follow mindfulness. Further linking emotion regulation to the well-being of a child’s healthy mind. It is beneficial to be aware to develop the brain.
Schonert Reichi and Lawlor in 2010 researched the mindfulness for kids activities program. Teachers conducted ten lessons and three daily meditations. Results showed a significant increase in scores on self-report measures of positive emotions. The decline is indeed seen in aggressive kids clearly.
6 tips for kids and teens to make a habit of mindfulness
Moreover, students with learning disabilities show an increase in anxiety levels and less social optimal skills. Being in a mindful state and practicing meditation regularly, improves the learning ability started by Beauchemin, J, Hutchins, T. L., & Patterson in the year 2008. To prove the same, a survey was conducted for 34 teens, and a 5-week mindfulness meditation took place. Post the survey, results showed surely an overwhelming response. With better social skills and academic performance improvement, their anxiety levels further reduced.
- Choose a time that is suitable for children to not divert their minds.
- Sit with your kid and practice mindfulness techniques along with them to let them feel it is more interesting.
- Share your experience, as well as encourage your kid teens to share their thoughts on the same.
- Every day sit at a fixed, quiet and clean place. Do not keep changing rooms. As a result of which it will help their mind settle.
- Never miss a day. Keeping it prompt will maintain its authenticity. Besides that let your kid understand the value of mindfulness practice.
- To have a more positive experience, make it a fun activity. Let kids and teens stir up excitement for the next day’s session.
Teaching kids mindfulness at an early age makes it easier to continue. As a parent or guardian, know that whatever seed is planted will later manifest. Therefore, indulge them in practicing mindfulness techniques.
Practicing Mindfulness for Kids and Teenagers
It is difficult to raise a kid. And, unknowingly, parents don’t recognize that a child also has to be happy and feel positive towards life. When you teach, the fear and problems get solved. Kids must develop their focus. Grasping is more powerful at such a small age.
Pressure increases with lost focus. In return, a teen may get in the wrong direction and cannot achieve their goals.
Research has shown that practicing mindfulness for kids has resulted in improved brain development. Overall attention improves, and stress reduces.
Some schools have also adopted and taken out time to teach their students to learn more effectively.
Effective ways to teach your kid and teen to make them a pro in being mindful are
- Body Awareness
Teach a child to sit with closed eyes and focus on their body parts. Instruct and make them feel as if their body is as light as a feather. Later, ask them to imagine lifting their body parts one by one, slowly and gradually.
- Play a Mindful Game
Jenga is a game that requires total awareness to win. Ask your kid or teen to focus on their breath and take long, deeper ones. And, then let them build the blocks. It will increase their sharpness of mind. At last, explain how just being aware of their breath has helped them play joyfully and succeed.
- Wishing with Kindness
To feel friendly and compassionate for the self and others, tell your child to make a wish. First, wish for the self, then wish for the people they love. At last, wish well for all those they don’t like. Being a kind version is of utmost importance, and easy to do so is praying well for everyone, whether they like them or not. It inculcates the affection for life and helps in being mindful.
- Rain of the Moment
There are certain highs and lows experienced as a kid grows up. And, it continues or can say be said to increase in the teen years. Introduce the kids and teens to RAIN practice.
R – Ask them to recognize and acknowledge whatever is happening around them and don’t run from that particular situation with hesitation.
A – Rather than running away, teach accepting whatever situation comes in front. Trying to run away will not solve the problem.
I – Let them note down their feelings in a copy or diary. Tell them to think firmly about their feelings for the moment, and then jot them down.
N – Not identifying does not mean that you don’t accept it. First, accept, and then know that every situation goes away. Nothing stays forever. Don’t sit and keep worrying.
- Practice together
To develop a habit of mindfulness, a parent needs to give oneself up in front of their child. Asking them to practice awareness, as a guardian or parent is busy with social media, it will never work well. The thing or saying gets affected when all the family takes time to practice mindfulness together. The best way to be here now is to keep aside the phone and having a meal with total awareness.
- Smell favorite food
Another technique to interest the hyper kids or teens is asking them to think about their food. Feel as if it is on the table and super hot, spreading the smell in the room. Later, ask them to breathe deeply and before doing some binge-eating, smell the food with full awareness. This process will excite them to be fully aware, as, in the end, treats of their favorite food will be given.
To sum up, the more kids and teenagers practice being mindful, it will help them in being happy in the present. Research has shown that practicing mindfulness regularly has a drastic improvement in attention spans. Young adults, who have ADHD, often trouble have focusing. A positive change is seen while being aware.
References
- https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-for-kids/
- https://mindfulnessinschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MiSP-Research-Summary-2012.pdf
- https://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research-on-mindfulness/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/10/18/the-many-benefits-of-meditation-for-children/
Keywords
- Mindfulness techniques
- Kids activities
- Mindfulness
- Training
- Mindfulness for kids