5 ways to empower your kid with Mindfulness by Suzy reading
Suzy is a mom of two, a Chartered Psychologist, yoga Teacher, as well as health and wellness Coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people handle their stress, emotions, as well as energetic bank balance. It was her life experience of motherhood colliding with the terminal disease of her dad that sparked her enthusiasm for self-care which she now teaches to her clients, young as well as old, to cope during periods of stress, loss as well as modification as well as to boost their resilience in the face of future challenges.
Suzy is a contributing editor for Psychologies Magazine, the Psychology professional for wellbeing brand Neom Organics as well as is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She figure-skated her way through her childhood, growing up on the northern beaches of Sydney, as well as now makes her house in hills of Hertfordshire, UK.
Her very first book ‘The Self-Care Revolution’ published by Aster, is out now: .
5 ways to empower your kid with Mindfulness
If we want to online with a sense of peace as well as ease, mindfulness is an important idea to embrace. It is a core coping skill in itself, helping us handle our thoughts as well as emotions, however likewise forms the foundation for numerous other self-care practices, like savouring as well as gratitude. So let’s dive into mindfulness – what it means as a idea as well as practices that will assist you as well as your household cultivate the capability to be mindful. A household who is skilled in mindfulness will collectively cope much better with stress, be able to respond to challenges with greater harmony as well as purpose as well as are able to truly delight in the top moments.
When you watch a kid absorbed in play you will see that they are already naturally skilled in aspects of mindfulness as well as we can discover a great deal from this observation! As parents we can highlight this natural ability, showing them exactly how to use this skill in other moments, talking them through the steps of exactly how the same interest they provide their play can assist them nut out a problem, or relocation through a challenging emotion. putting into words for them what mindfulness is as well as exactly how they can do it will assist them apply this skill throughout their day.
What is mindfulness as a concept?
We recently made our very first return check out back to Australia after being away for four years – it’s not only unfavorable events that can throw us, even much desired events can trigger a cascading of huge emotions to navigate! Without the skill of mindfulness I might have spent the entire two weeks lost in comparison between UK as well as Sydney life, as well as grieving the future loss of my mom when she was sitting across the table from me! Mindfulness allowed me to notice as well as accept the maelstrom of feelings swirling about as well as to return my focus to the potential delight waiting to be experienced right in front of me. For my excited seven year old, the beginning of the trip was punctuated by queries of when we were going to do a myriad of things she remembered from her early youth as well as mindfulness allowed her to be anchored in this one activity, safe in the understanding that there would be time for other interesting things later. towards the end of the trip, when collectively thoughts were looking to our departure, mindfulness helped us all stay in the moment, rather than squandering that time feeling sad that it was drawing to a close.
Mindfulness as a idea is being in touch with the present moment – what is happening in the atmosphere around us as well as what is unfolding within us. rather than being caught up in worry about the past or the future, mindfulness anchors us in the ‘now’. It is noticing without judgement or resistance, our feelings, thoughts, sensations as well as memories, as well as the events happening around us. I think of mindfulness as a way of establishing fresh eyes, allowing us to link with life as it unfolds, giving us space to select exactly how we respond rather than reacting blindly. simply put, whatever you are doing right now, do that thing with your full attention. At the same time, this focus needs to be coupled with a feeling of acceptance, allowing things to be as they are – the things we like, the things we’re impartial to as well as the things we don’t like. It is observing that this is the way things are right now. When we get lost in inner dialogue, judgement of our experience, or worry, we have lost that connection to what is happening in the moment. That’s not to say that we have to be mindful in every moment. There is a time for getting lost in a day dream, for problem solving, there is even a time for worry! Mindfulness puts us back in the driver’s seat, allowing us to select exactly how we harness our minds.
Often it is our assessment of what’s happening right now that adds to our discomfort – thinking we mustn’t feel like this, this shouldn’t be happening, or it can’t be like this… mindfulness is seeing things the way they truly are, not resisting it or willing it away, since after all, it IS happening, whether we like it or not. This is not to say we just sit back as well as let life wash over us. We still requirement to take action, however mindfulness creates the space to feel what we feel, to see a situation for what it is – the things we control as well as the things we can’t control, as well as then empowers us with the chance to reflect on the best program of action. Mindfulness opens you up to truly experiencing life in its full glory – sucking the life out of precious moments, rather than frittering them away with divided attention, as well as helping you to weather the tougher times with less of a struggle.
How do we establish the practice of mindfulness?
A mindfulness practice is a constant process of bringing the mind back to ‘now’, since the mind will wander as well as it will always be full of thoughts. Mindfulness is not about emptying the mind. The mind is designed to think just as the eyes are designed to see, so don’t worry about trying to stop thoughts from coming. There are numerous different mindfulness practices to experiment with as well as each will anchor the mind on different things such as the breath, thoughts, feelings, sensation, movement, eating, a phrase, or sound. try these 5 exercises to develop mindfulness:
‘Blue sky Mind’. discover a comfortable place to sit or lie down, this can be inside or outside, wherever you feel totally at ease. close your eyes as well as just ended up being aware. feel your body, feel your breathing as well as notice your mind. let all these thoughts, emotions, sensations as well as memories occur as they will. Don’t resist them, don’t engage with them, just notice them. picture in your mind’s eye a huge blue sky as well as every time a thought, emotion, sensation or memory arises, let it ended up being a cloud in the sky, floating away until the next comes along. You are not your thoughts, emotions or sensations, you are the wide blue sky. relax into that knowing, staying right here for a few minutes, peacefully watching the clouds as they come as well as go.
Mindfulness Jar. seek out a clean, empty jar. Pop a tablespoon of glitter and/or stars in it, fill it two thirds with water, add a decrease or two of food colouring if you like as well as screw the lid on firmly. discuss to your kid that they can use this jar whenever they feel jumbled up inside or when their minds are really busy. provide it a shake for a moment then hold the jar still as well as watch as the sparkling contents whirl about as well as slowly settle. The glitter is just like our thoughts, sometimes jumbled as well as busy, sometimes calm as well as still. It is all ok. When we sit still, relax into our breathing, as well as watch our thoughts, the mind slows as well as settles down too, just like the glitter in the jar. When we feel shaken up it can be difficult to understand what to do. When the mind is calm it is easier to work out the solutions to our problems or talk about what is upsetting us. use the mindfulness jar whenever you’d like to feel calm.
Yoga for mindfulness – every yoga pose presents an chance for cultivating mindfulness as well as this is the important aspect that turns yoga from just a stretching exercise into a mindbody wellbeing practice.
Try ‘Stand tall like A Mountain’ to energise, uplift as well as boost confidence as well as courage:
Stand upright with your feet hip width apart. place your arms down by your sides as well as look forwards. As you breathe in, raise your arms out to your sides as well as reach them overhead. look up as well as press your palms together. As you breathe out, lower your arms down by your sides, reaching through the crown of your head as well as look forwards. focus all your interest on exactly how it feels to be moving, keeping your mind anchored on this present moment. Repeat this arm motion with your breath six times, noticing exactly how it helps you breathe deeply as well as exactly how you feel when you breathe better. On the last repetition, hold the pose with your arms overhead for a few breaths, feeling the length of your spine, the strength of your legs as well as tummy. notice the sense of power, energy as well as focus you feel when you reach up as well as stand tall like a mountain.
Balloon belly Breath: lie on your back as well as rest your hands on your tummy. relax your body as well as enable your breath to be smooth. picture there is a balloon in your tummy. The balloon inflates with each breath in as well as carefully deflates with each breath out, your hands going along for the ride. There is no hurry to fill or empty your balloon. See if you can take longer to empty it than fill it back up. If you like, you might pop a treasured cuddly toy on your tummy as well as watch them ride the breath up as well as down. when you’ve enjoyed several relaxed deep breaths, provide your toy a cuddle as well as feel exactly how much you love them. then wrap your arms around yourself, provide yourself a tight squeeze as well as prolong that same feeling of love towards you.
A Mindful Nature Walk: go out together with the reveal objective of noticing the atmosphere around you. Make sure there are no distractions, this is just time to be absorbed by Nature’s beauty. only bring out your mobile phone to take photos. It is not time for worry, thoughts about the ‘to do’ list, or squabbles. appreciate as well as provide voice to the things you see, hear as well as smell, so you can all delight in them. notice exactly how your atmosphere changes with the seasons, giving you fresh inspiration throughout the year. one of my favourite mindfulness moments with my kids was engaging in an impromptu sound meditation while walking through snow, honing in on the crunch underfoot. You may be surprised by what reels you all in.
I hope you as well as your children delight in building your mindfulness muscles together as well as make some bonding memories in the process. delight in sharing these practices as well as I hope you’ll see that these skills serve you similarly well in navigating times of difficulty as well as savouring precious times of ease.
We’re in it together,
Suz x
Her second book ‘Stand tall like a Mountain: Mindfulness & Self-Care for children as well as Parents’ will be out on April 4, 2019, shortly followed by ‘The little book of Self-Care’ on July 2nd.
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