Mindfulness with Kids: Resources
Posted by Laurie J Cameron
The joy, the laughter, the melt-downs. Nothing makes me feel more alive than being a parent. And there is no other more rigorous practice field for deepening my mindfulness skills of presence, attention, non-judgmental awareness and compassion than being a parent.
In a recent seminar teaching Mindful Leadership to 45 executive MBA students at Smith, many people asked me after our session to point them to resources to introduce and integrate mindfulness into their family life.
It is never too early to start, and it is never too late to start. I started calm breathing with my daughter when she was 3, and that same year she attended her first mindfulness meditation retreat with one of our beloved teachers Chau Yoder in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. My little one learned mindful walking, breathing, songs, painting rocks, and soaked up the energy of mindfulness that we generated on that hill in the Russian River countryside in California. Kids are so open and fresh! Since then, we spend time at week-long mindfulness retreats in the US and France with nuns and monks, who teach us skills and show us how to live with presence and open hearts.
I teach mindfulness to kids, parents and school faculties, and it has been a joy adapting practices into language and metaphors kids enjoy. I have learned so much!
Books
Here are some of my favorite books that you can explore with your children:
Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children by Thich Nhat Hanh & Wietske Vriezen
Child's Mind: Mindfulness Practices to Help Our Children Be More Focused, Calm, and Relaxed by Christopher Willard
Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents) by Eline Snel
Peaceful Piggy Meditation: by Kerry Lee MacLean
And extra for parents: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (Unabridged) by Thich Nhat Hanh
Videos for Mindfulness Activities with Kids
Pebble Meditation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc1pdjPG9BM
Mindfulness Calming Jar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNmMH6tqiMc
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