Teaching Mindfulness Techniques to Children

17244930_SCurrently, many people are seeking ways to become more calm and at peace in the present. Mindfulness is the answer to many of our questions, most of us just don’t realize it yet.

Mindfulness is a clear mental state achieved only by focusing your awareness on the current, present moment. Acknowledging, accepting, and controlling your feelings, thoughts, and sensations as they currently are is the backbone of the mindfulness teaching approach.

It is the ability to simply observe your surroundings and remain neutral in your thinking. Mindfulness teaches our children to become more open to choices, different kinds of people, and ideas, in the future.

In Oakland, California, there is a Mindful Schools program that has implemented guidelines for educators who choose to incorporate mindfulness into their daily teaching schedules.

Here are some mindfulness techniques from the Oakland program that parents and teachers everywhere can use with their own children and students.

Creating your own mindfulness practice

Creating a personalized practice for your children or students is best. No program is able to present every great idea for teaching mindfulness, and often developing a practice that suits your children’s personal lifestyle is much more effective. Mindfulness techniques for children living in a busy city, will be inherently different than those created for children who live in a quiet rural area.

Choose a specific time for your mindfulness practice

Setting aside a specific time for your mindfulness practice is key to getting children to understand the level of its importance. If they see their parents and teachers sticking to a mindfulness schedule, they will learn to make the practice a priority in their lives.

Teach children the purpose of mindfulness

Mindfulness techniques are most successful when children know why they are important. Teachers and parents must convey the point, that mindfulness is about being aware of your surroundings, paying attention to one’s experience, being non-judgmental about the experiences, and not labeling them good or bad.

Get the children involved with creating the practice

Having the children help with creating their mindfulness practice and schedule, gives them more incentive to participate. It also helps everyone, parents, teachers, and students, to remember to practice. Practicing mindfulness every day is vital to teaching kids the importance of incorporating this practice into their daily lives.

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