"Mindfulness means maintaining a moment -by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens" (Greater Good Magazine, UC Berkeley, 2020).
In the midst of all of the uncertainty going on in our world today, it is important for both kids AND adults to practice mindfulness exercises to become in-tune with themselves and what is going on around them. The Greater Good Magazine UC Berkeley (2020) suggests that practicing mindfulness can improve memory, attention skills, and decision making. Personally, I enjoy using mindfulness activities/exercises to bring my students back to focus before we start an activity or as a calming technique. My personal favorite mindfulness exercises are listening to mindfulness meditation videos and practicing deep breathing. Mindfulness Meditation A study found that practicing mindfulness meditation boosts our immune system's ability to fight off illness and improves sleep quality. Check out this resource that gives you more information about the benefits of using mindfulness: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition#why-practice-mindfulness YouTube offers mindfulness meditation videos for both kids and adults to listen to. Honestly, I have found that listening to the kids mindfulness meditation videos with my students are relaxing when we practice during group and individual sessions at school. I always warn my students that it may feel a little silly to practice this the first time that you do it, but I ask them to try it and see how it makes them feel afterwards. I have found it to be rare that a student does not enjoy the experience. You can use this mindfulness exercise when you are having a good day or a bad day. Sometimes I will use this strategy before I go to bed at night if I am having trouble falling asleep. Before you begin the video, allow yourself and your child to find a comfortable place in your home. You may decide to dim the lights or turn them off all together. Make the space that you practice this strategy comfortable for yourself and for your child and get ready to relax your mind and body. Here is one of my favorite mindfulness meditation videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOHcGF1Tmc Deep Breathing In my lunch bunch groups, it is part of our social emotional curriculum, Strong Start/Strong Kids, to begin our lessons practicing "balloon breathing". Balloon breathing is a deep breathing exercise where students put one hand on their stomach and every time they breath in, they feel their stomach expand like a balloon and when they breath out, they feel their "balloon" in their stomach shrink. This is a great calming activity that brings them back to focus and gets them ready to learn. Susan Cunningham from UCHealth (2018) explains that taking deep breaths have been shown to slow the heartbeat, lower or stabilize blood pressure and lower stress. When there is a student with me that is feeling angry, sad, or worried, I will typically suggest that they take a few (3-4) deep breaths as a calming strategy. I will lead them while doing this exercise so they know what to do. Here is a good deep breathing video that you and your child can watch to practice deep breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O29e4rRMrV4 Here is another deep breathing resource that adolescents or adults can use: https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/deep-breathing-worksheet.pdf Mindfulness Crafts Counselor Keri has fabulous social emotional resources that I love to use. Here is a great resource she posted that gives you several mindfulness crafts you can do at home with your child: https://www.counselorkeri.com/2020/03/22/mindfulness-crafts/
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School's have closed until April 20th, which means many people's daily routines have also been affected.
I think it is a great idea to have a conversation about the many feelings you and your child may feel because of these changes, and give your child the opportunity talk through these changes with you. If your child has a hard time deciding what coping skills work best for them, suggest ideas such as going for a walk outside, coloring or doing art projects, reading a book, listening to music, playing a game, etc. I have attached a fabulous resource that gives you an outline of how to have this conversation about these changes with your child. Here is the resource: https://www.mylemarks.com/uploads/4/7/0/1/47012219/school-coping_with_change_-_schools_out-mylemarks_llc.pdf |
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