Mindfulness is an important skill that we need throughout our lives, and children can learn this skill if we teach it to them in the right manner.
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Mindfulness is something that doesn't often come naturally. In today’s life, we are encouraged to do as much as possible in the shortest amount of time, and this can have negative effects on our focus, productivity, mood, health, and ability to regulate our emotions.
It takes time, practice and consistency to learn any new skill and the same can be expected with mindfulness. Being mindful involves becoming aware of what is happening right now, in our immediate environment. It means living for and in the present moment instead of living in the past or the future. Mindfulness involves our senses, our thoughts and even our feelings.
Here are 3 mindfulness activities you can try out at home
Gratitude practice – a fundamental part of mindfulness is to teach individuals to appreciate the abundance in their lives instead of focusing on all the things that they desire. Take time to sit together and encourage each person to name one thing that he/she is thankful for – this can be done during circle time in a classroom or even at home while having dinner together.
Breathing buddies – it may be hard for children to pay attention to their own breathing. Let them lie down on their backs with a stuffed animal (breathing buddy) on their tummies and let them focus on the rise and fall of their buddy as they are breathing.
“Spiderman meditation” – ask children to activate their superhero senses and to focus on everything that they can hear/smell/taste/feel in the present moment.
Make sure to check out the full video guide for more tips and how to implement these strategies.
Watch this week's video guide in the Tracto app
There are so many small ways in which we can get our children to slow down and be mindful. The key is practice, practice, practice. Our full-length video explains in more detail how to incorporate these moments into daily life.
Our growing library of video guides are created by experts in the field of neurodiversity, and include parent-led strategies that improve communication skills, coping skills, independence, challenging behaviors, and many more.
To find this week's full video guide, "Mindfulness for children", you can use the following tags to search our library: mindfulness | meditation | coping strategies | emotional regulation | autism | ADHD | SPD | sensory processing disorder | self-regulation
Using Tracto's Routine Reminders feature to practice mindfulness in your daily life
Learning a new skill is always easier if you have a structure or system in place. If kept up, a small weekly mindfulness activity can make a big difference.
Use the Tracto app to set reminders for mindful walks, 10min of gratitude practice, or a sensory activity that the whole family can do together.
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