Kids | Sleep Tight, Under 5
When it’s time for bed, use this exercise for kids to count down to sweet dreams.
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Hi, my name is Andy. So just take a moment to get comfortable on your bed. Lie down so you're flat on your back, arms outstretched, fingers outstretched, legs stretched out and just take a moment before we do anything else just to take one big deep breath. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And see let's do one more of those. So breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. So the first thing I'd like you to do is just wiggle very gently. Wiggle your fingers, feel your fingers against the bed, feel your hands against the bed. Now do the same with your toes, just wiggling your toes, feeling the feet against the bed. Now we're gonna squeeze our hands, squeeze our feet, scrunching up the toes, scrunching up the fingers and we gonna hold them for a count of three seconds. So let's try that right now. So squeeze your fingers, squeeze your toes as hard as you can for one, two, three and then let them go. So just feel them land, sinking back into the bed. Again just wiggle your fingers very gently, wiggle your toes very gently. And then we're gonna try it again. If you're ready we're gonna squeeze for three, scrunch up the toes, scrunch up the fingers and squeeze, one, two, three, and let that go. Again just gently wiggle the fingers, gently wiggle the toes, just feel your hands and your feet on the bed. Then one last time we're gonna squeeze the fingers, the toes, scrunch them up as tight as you can for one, two, three, and then let them go. And just letting them sink down into the bed. So now we're gonna do the same thing but with our arms and our legs. So when I say we're just going to, it's as though we just tense them up as hard as we can, we squeeze them, we hold it and then we just relax the body as we sink down into the bed. So just try that now. So squeeze your arms, squeeze your legs as hard as you can for one, two, three, and then just relax. Just let the body sink down into the bed. One more time, we're gonna squeeze the arms, squeeze the legs and squeeze one, two, three, and relax. And just one more time, squeezing the arms, squeezing the legs as hard as you can for one, two, three, and relax. And just letting the body now sink down into the bed. Body feels very heavy, the arms, the legs, the hands, the feet. A whole body just sinking down. And then just gently closing the eyes and just allowing yourself to drift off to sleep....
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About your teachers
- More about Andy
A former Buddhist monk, Andy has guided people in meditation and mindfulness for 20 years. In his mission to make these practices accessible to all, he co-created the Headspace app in 2010.
- More about Eve
Eve is a mindfulness teacher, overseeing Headspace’s meditation curriculum. She is passionate about sharing meditation to help others feel less stressed and experience more compassion in their lives.
- More about Dora
As a meditation teacher, Dora encourages others to live, breathe, and be with the fullness of their experiences. She loves meditation’s power to create community and bring clarity to people’s minds.
- More about Kessonga
Kessonga has been an acupuncturists, therapist, and meditation teacher, working to bring mindfulness to the diverse populations of the world.
- More about Rosie
Rosie Acosta has studied yoga and mindfulness for more than 20 years and taught for over a decade. Rosie’s mission is to help others overcome adversity and experience radical love.
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