Mindfulness in Early Years
“Mindfulness: the intentional use of attention”
-Leah Weiss
Mindfulness simply means being in the present moment while being conscious about your inner self and outer surroundings without prejudice. Dr. Rick Hanson once said “If we move through our day with an open awareness of the many good things around us we correct the brain’s built-in negativity bias.” To know what you feel and feel what you know is not possible without being mindful.
A person must be aware of the physical sensations, emotional responses and should also be conscious about your connection with the surroundings and people around.
Kids should be trained to be mindful since their early childhood. Being mindful helps kids in many ways- It helps kids in better concentration, in controlling themselves when they get upset and to gradually be capable to take wise decisions in life. In nutshell, mindfulness helps in emotional regulation and cognitive focus.
Training kids to be mindful from early years also has another important reason. The emotions are been developed and rooted in the early years. Hence, kids need to live the moment and know or identify their emotions. They must learn to control their emotions and to be kind to others. They must learn to carry them and behave properly from early childhood. For that, kids must be curious in the present moment and about what they see and hear and experience around.
To train kids to be mindful, the one who is going to train them needs to be mindful first as to self regulate. Because if the practitioner can self regulate, he can provide kids with the necessary support in order to help them in gaining mindfulness which in turn develops their social and emotional skills.
Teachers and parents has to keep in mind that when you approach your kids to train them to be mindful, don’t frustrate them with too much lecture or theory and also ensure that the thing is introduced to them lightly in the form of games or activities so that kids need to enjoy what they are doing. They shouldn’t feel like they are forced up on. Also, this is not something that anyone can acquire in a day. It needs practice and patience and hence makes kids practice those activities which help in gaining mindfulness.
Let’s just ponder on the many different ways kids are trained to be mindful around the globe.
- Listening to bell is commonly practised method in most preschools and schools.
- Practising breathing with your toy baby on your belly and you lying down flat against the floor. Each breath is carefully observed.
- Practise mindful eating. Asking the kids to enjoy the chocolate or their favourite food with fastly finishing it is also seizing the moment.
- Practise mindful walking – closely observing the things on the way you walk and carefully listening to all sounds you hear.
- Establish a practice of gratitude – Remember things that happened each day and say it and thank Almighty for that.
- Ask kids to describe every emotion they have experienced. Ask them to relate it with some colours or types of weather conditions.
- Describing emotions can be done by forming listening circles. Also, kids may be seated in circles and ask them to close their eyes and listen to the sounds they hear and ask them to raise their hands and describe it.
- Looking at clouds – observing the shape and movement of clouds.
- Bubble Balloon game.
- Texture Bag – A bag is filled with different textured items. Children should take things out of it one by one with their eyes closed. They should feel the texture and identify what the object is.
- Yoga and Meditation
A research conducted at Harvard University show that mediation done on a regular basis help reduce amygdale (the section of the brain responsible for fight of flight response) resulting in a much calmer, less strained existence.
- Guided relaxation and visualization – Asking kids to visualize certain things or situations.
These are the different methods widely practice round the globe and the prior reason to do this or to impart mindfulness is to make children develop an awareness of their inner and outer experiences, to comprehend the manifestation of the emotional waves in their bodies, to be alert about and recognize their focus being wavered and to lead back their wandering mind in to the right place.
A thing that has to be kept in mind is that while making kids practice certain activities to acquire mindfulness, make sure those activities are age appropriate. Don’t give an impression that they are doing some serious stuff. Bring it to them lightly as a game. To make kids less wriggled, it is advisable that kids can be made to do some energetic activities prior to these so that they settle in the place without being restless.
Mindfulness is thus very important in emotional resilience, social and emotional development, peace and in controlling stress and anxiety. To bring down over thinking, make aware of what’s going on inside and outside you and to maintain healthy relationship with people and to be aware of your surroundings, practice methods which helps you gain mindfulness. Kids will thus be more focussed, enthusiastic, self controlled and emotionally stable as they learn to be mindful.
See Also: Understanding Gender Bias in Early Years
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