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Teaching mindfulness to yourself and learning to adapt it into your daily life may take a bit of time. You need to work with the different options available to you and find which one is best for you. Overtime you will find that mindfulness is working, but now you want to help your kids find the same peace that you have.
The trick with this is to keep them engaged and keep them active in mindfulness. Here is how you do that while keeping your kids engaged and not forcing them to do things they don’t want to do.
Start With Positive Thoughts
One of the easiest ways to bring mindfulness to your kids is to start with a positive thought game or daily task. For example, at the end of the day consider having your children come up with one thing they are were thankful for in the day. You can take this a step further by having them write it down and put it into a thankfulness jar or gratitude jar. At the end of the year they can see how many things they were thankful for which can spur them to find more positive things.
Breathing Techniques
Consider adapting breathing and meditation as part of your daily routine. You can get up in the morning and do a morning walk with your kids while teaching them breathing techniques. You can do this in your home as part of your morning routine. While the kids wait for breakfast, they can work on their breathing. You can also incorporate this as something the kids should do after school. They can put their books down, and sit for a few moments just being quiet and breathing. It can help them sort out their day and remove negative thoughts they may be having.
Healthy Options for Anger
One thing you can do to help teach your kids mindfulness is turn their anger into health. If they are angry over school, a fight with a friend, or something else consider having them take a walk or go meditate. Though this may seem like something they don’t’ want to do, and they probably don’t, eventually it will turn from what they view as a punishment into a coping mechanism that can help with reduce anger and stress later.
By incorporating these techniques into your daily life with your kids, you can keep them engaged in mindfulness. Before long, you will find that your kids are practicing it without your guidance and input. You will also find that it becomes part of their daily lives just like brushing their teeth and combing their hair.
