Mindfulness for All Ages

(air whooshing) (mouse clicking) (bright music) Headspace Studios. (ethereal music) Hi, Sam here. Welcome to Radio Headspace, and to Monday. So, I received a question from a parent about when and how to introduce their child to mindfulness. With this in mind, I thought it would be helpful to talk about ways to introduce mindfulness to kids and give some tips on how to use these methods for anyone at any age. And if you've been practicing mindfulness for a while, this could also be a good refresher. So, let's start at the beginning. Here are the main components of mindfulness. First, mindfulness includes the ability to observe both our internal feelings and thoughts and external environment without judgment. Next, it includes the ability to describe by putting words to our thoughts and feelings. And finally, it encompasses the skills of paying attention to the present moment and allowing or accepting our experience to be just as it is. As you reflect on these components of mindfulness, which capacities do you think young children would be able to develop? Which ones do you think would be difficult, even for you? The most common issue that I've worked on with children is emotional regulation. When you're helping a child in the midst of an intense emotion, it's helpful to first use a calming strategy, like mindful breathing or movement, before trying to reassure them. In a heightened state of distress, it's pretty difficult to regulate our emotional state through helpful thoughts until the physiological stress response has eased up a bit. So, breathing really helps calm us down. One of my favorite ways to encourage young children to breathe mindfully is pairing it with movement. So, you can encourage kids to move like an animal as they breathe. Invite them to imagine that they're a bird or a cat, and then link those movements by flapping their wings, or rounding and arching their back as they breathe. If you're using breathing exercise as a calming strategy, it's important to let children retell their story of a stressful situation when they feel calmer. Encourage them to share how they help themselves find calm during the event so that they'll remember to use it next time they need it. This is a great strategy for adults who need calming as well. As adults, it's helpful to name your emotions before jumping into problem-solving mode too. So for example, you can say to yourself, I'm feeling anxious, or I'm feeling fear, and this will give you some space and help you to be less reactive and more thoughtful before taking action. Visualization also helps children and adults connect with their breath. They can breathe in as they imagine they're smelling a flower, and then breathe out as they imagine blowing out a candle. One breathing activity that anyone can enjoy involves using an expanding ball, which mimics the expansion and contraction of the lungs. The ball I like to use is called a Hoberman sphere....