5 mindfulness exercises to do with your kids

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​A regular mindfulness practice has been found to help reduce attention problems, improve mental health and wellbeing, strengthen impulse control, alleviate stress, and enhance social-emotional resiliency. Here are some simple exercises you can do at home with your child to promote their happiness and overall well-being...

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1. Three-minute breathing: Spend the first minute thinking about and answering the question “how am I doing right now?” Focus on the feelings, thoughts, and sensations that arise and try to put those sensations into words. Spend the second minute focusing on the feeling of your breath and breathing. Spend the last minute focusing on the physical sensations of lying on the floor, and how those sensations affect the rest of the body.
2. Squeeze and relax: Guide your child through squeezing a certain part of their body for a second or two, then relaxing it. Start with the toes. If your child knows their right and left, do each side separately. Then squeeze and relax the knees, the bottom, suck in the belly, make fists and squeeze the hands, squeeze the elbows strait, and then shrug the shoulders. Move slowly through the progression from toes to head. Lastly, ask your child to squeeze everything all at once and hold for a second or two, then relax, and repeat once or twice. This process brings attention and awareness to the present, the physical sensation of their body, and exerts energy for calming effects. 
3. Use the "other" hand:  Experts say that using your "other" hand helps better integrate the brain's two hemispheres. The increase in exchange between the two hemispheres can benefit intelligence and processing. Challenge yourself and your child by using your non-dominant hands to brush teeth, comb hair, eat, or open door knobs. It is hard!
4. Mindful showering: While showering or bathing, have your child direct their attention to the temperature of the water, the feel of the washcloth or bathing sponge, the smell of the shampoo, and the sensation of lathered soap against their skin. Ask them about what they are seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling.
5. Notice 5 things: Taking a moment to observe the world around us can help keep us present, and relieve feelings of stress or anxiety. It helps kids, too. Sit down with your child, or go for a short mindfulness walk, and practice noticing 5 things around you: things you hear, see, smell, or feel. You could focus on noticing things using multiple senses, or one sense at a time. 

A regular mindfulness practice may seem like a daunting thing to do in an already too short of a day. So, instead of adding another thing to your to-do list, just find a few moments during the activities you already do with your kids to practice some of these ideas. It will teach them the life-long skills of being present and centered.

​Have fun!