BROADCASTS.com

Stress and overwhelm are an epidemic in childhood\u2013which means mindfulness for kids has become essential. As adults, many (if not most) of us carry significant amounts of stress and overwhelm on a daily basis. It has become so ingrained into our society and culture that we have normalized it as a part of who we are as individuals.\n\nEven if \u201cstressed out and anxious\u201d is normal for you\u2013you need to consider the effect that it has on your children. Stress impacts our children twofold: (1) they are impacted by the stress levels of their parents and (2) they are impacted by their own personal stress encountered in daily life.\n\nIn today\u2019s podcast episode I am speaking with Jessica Knopke about teaching mindfulness to kids. Jessica is an Occupational Therapist and Yoga Teacher who has dedicated her career to bringing calm and intentional movement to childhood. She is also the founder of Lily Pad Yoga, a yoga center and Youtube channel\xa0which brings movement and breath to children.\n\n\n\nIn our chat, Jessica shares more about her observations of the growing rates of childhood anxiety and depression\u2013along with specific strategies that we as parents can use to plant seeds of mindfulness in our children during these early years.\xa0Jessica shared that mindfulness in children doesn\u2019t necessarily mean stillness, because they have an internal drive to move.\xa0\n\nJessica will be joining us in the Mindfulness focus group for this month, click here to join in the discussion and ask her any questions you may have! In the mean time, check out five of Jessica\u2019s simple strategies to teach mindfulness to kids.\n\nMindfulness for Kids at Home: 5 Simple Ideas\n\n\n\nBlowing on feathers. \xa0Blow feathers off the palm of your hand. \xa0This will help children to experiment with different intensities of breath.\n\n\nStarfish breath. Make a starfish with one hand by opening up all the fingers. \xa0With your other hand gently trace the outline of the starfish. \xa0Breath in as your finger moves up and breathe out as your finger moves down. Using our finger to trace as we breathe fosters a mind-body connection.\n\n\nAnchoring to sounds. \xa0Listen for the subtle sounds outside the room, inside the room, and then within your own body. \xa0It might be the hum of the furnace or the chirping of a bird\u2013we can pause our brains and tune into the sounds that are present right now.\xa0\n\n\nMindful eating. \xa0You can really pay attention to that first bite of your meal. \xa0How does it look? \xa0How does it smell? Is there a sound it makes while you chew? If you are picking it up with your hands, what does it feel like? \xa0Before you take that first bite, who can you thank for that food? The worms that nourished the soil, the sun for helping it grow, the farmers who grew it, the workers who packaged it, truck drivers who drove it to the market, the grown ups who put it on the table\u2026.then chew that first bite really slowly.\n\n\nGlitter jars. \xa0Put warm water, sparkles, glitter glue and food coloring (optional) in a jar. \xa0Shake it up and it resembles how we feel in our bodies and minds when we are scared or angry. \xa0As you sit in stillness watching the glitter settle your mind and body begin to settle too. \xa0Then we can see the water clearly, just as we can see more clearly now that we are calm.\n\n\nDo you want to chat more about bringing mindfulness to kids? Join the discussion!\n\nBe sure to check out Jessica on Youtube!\n\n\n\nThe post SFP 97: Mindfulness for Kids [with Jessica from Lily Pad Yoga] appeared first on Simple Families.