You may be wondering why mindfulness is important for your child. Mindfulness gives kids the habit of focusing on the present moment and ignoring distractions, promotes happiness and patience by lowering social anxiety and stress, teaches them to stay calm in the face of life’s stressful times, improves attentiveness and impulse control, creates good habits for the future, and so much more.
The Mindfulness Minutes series from West Virginia University Health Science Center is designed to help children learn about mindfulness and how they can use it in their lives every day. Some of the topics covered in these lessons include social emotional learning, concentration, relaxation, and stress reduction. View the post for direct links to the Mindfulness Minutes Series videos.
Lesson Summaries
What is Mindfulness?
In this lesson children will learn what mindfulness is and how to do it. One way we can practice mindfulness is by having good posture, sitting with our feet on the floor or legs crossed, closing our eyes, keeping our hands rested on our knees or in our lap, taking 3 deep breaths, and notice our breath. This is called meditation. There are tons of videos that can help you meditate. Try having your parent find one on this page or on the internet for you to try!
Belly Breathing
In this lesson we will be learning an exercise that helps us learn how to ‘belly breathe’. Belly breathing allows us to take in more oxygen, calm our bodies, and feel better. It is a key part to mindfulness! For today’s lesson you will need a comfy place to sit. A chair or the floor is perfect.
On & Off
In this lesson we will be learning how to turn off bad energy caused by stress. You may be wondering what stress is? Stress is what you feel when you are worried or uncomfortable about something. This worry in your mind can make your body feel bad. You may feel angry, frustrated, scared, or afraid which can give you a stomachache, headache, put you in a bad mood, or even ruin your day. When you’re stressed you may not feel like sleeping or eating, or you might sleep or eat too much. You also may feel cranky or have trouble paying attention at school and remembering things at home. Everyone feels stress in different ways. For today’s lesson you will need a comfy place to sit. A chair or the floor is perfect.
Master the Monkey
In this lesson we will be learning about how our mind can just jump from one thing to another – like a monkey – and will learn about a game that helps our concentration. It’s normal for our minds to wonder and jump from thought to thought but sometimes we need our brain to focus so we can use it! For today’s lesson you will need a comfy place to sit. A chair or the floor is perfect.
Resources
The mindfulness minutes catalog will expand over time. Many of the videos incorporated into our series come from the following websites and resources. These websites are great resources for finding many different videos for you, your child, and your family. Visit these websites on a regular basis and download your favorite videos.
Source: West Virginia University | Mindfulness Minutes, http://cedwvu.org/mental-health/mindfulness-minutes | © 2020 West Virginia University
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