Practicing Mindfulness & Meditation at Home

Why practice Mindfulness and Meditation?

Teaching your child meditation and mindfulness from an early age can not only assist them in regulating their emotions in the short term but has been proven to have long term mental health benefits in managing anxiety and stress later in life.

It is natural for children to feel anxious or stressed during times of uncertainty. In our Oac Grow@Home curriculum you will find mindfulness and meditation exercises that you can practice with your child at home. Here are a few of those tips:

Mindfulness Exercise – Exploring Outside

This exercise will support children to self-regulate their feelings and emotions:

• Lay on our back and look up at the clouds. What shapes can you see?
• Close your eyes and listen to the birds or the trees in the wind. Listen: what can you hear?
• Smell: what can you smell? What do you think the smell is?
• What animals, bugs or insects can you see?
• Take some deep breaths and allow quiet moments for thought

Morning Meditation

Taking time to be calm and quiet is really important, here are a few simple steps to create a 5 minute meditation routine to help your child focus and settle for the day.

• Find a space in a room where you can be together but have your own space, a mat or cushion on the floor works well
• Put on some relaxation music, ideally with no words, put it on quietly so you have to listen to hear it
• Sit in a position that is comfortable. This may be different for you and your child.
• Eyes closed. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds breathe out for 4 seconds and repeat. It will help if you talk through this for the first few times

You can download these to Practice Mindfulness and Meditation at Home

Read more about Raising Healthy Happy Children.