How Mindfulness Enables Kids to Focus in School and Become Better Learners
It is more common to read books or articles praising the positive effects of mindfulness on the adult brain. The truth is that children benefit tremendously from mindfulness as well. Kids are in need of the benefits that mindfulness can produce just as much as adults are.
The biggest attraction with mindfulness is the focus and increased attention that it elicits on the part of those who embrace it. If mindfulness can help adults improve their level of focus on everything taking place presently, then kids need it even more so. This is because, as you may have observed, it is difficult for kids to be attentive or remain focused for very long periods of time.
Furthermore, regardless of age, no human being is completely exempt from stress. As the world keeps changing, kids are increasingly suffering from stress, as is the case with adults. Therefore, the fact that mindfulness is one of the most effective stress-busters makes it ideal for kids who suffer high levels of stress for people that young. Such high stress levels can be devastating on the overall health and wellness of such young minds.
Mindfulness helps the mind to slow down and relax. The negative effects of stress in a kid do not wait until one is old to manifest themselves. The main benefits associated with mindfulness that adults have enjoyed for years are also available for young children to derive a lot of peace and pleasure from. These benefits include:
a) Heightened focus
b) Improved quality of sleep
c) Reduced stress levels
Mindfulness helps children to increase their levels of focus and awareness. Consequently, a focused and increasingly aware child performs much better academically. A child who has benefited from mindfulness can tackle schoolwork with a sense of calm and focus. Such a child is able to avoid many forms of distraction that could make studying and attending to schoolwork feel impossible for the disintegrated young mind.
Creating a peaceful atmosphere at school is possible if the teachers embrace the principle of mindfulness. Young school-going children have shown an uncanny ability to develop a lifestyle of reflection, movement, listening and breathing, which are crucial, components of mindfulness. By training young minds to develop such abilities, everybody will benefit from studying and teaching in a peaceful school.
And so, if you have come to value mindfulness as a way of life, I urge you to ask for it from your children’s educators. In my experience, when a group of parents approach administrators or other staff members at a school in order to begin something positive, such as Goldie Hawn’s ‘Mind Up’, the parents are often heard. I have seen the positive effects of ‘Mind Up’ on kids at my own school, but only if it is embraced whole-heartedly by the classroom teacher. If I had had either Yoga or any other mindfulness-based practices offered to me at my school growing up, I know that I would have spent far less time in the hallway and a lot more time engaging in the knowledge that was being offered to me.
How Mindfulness Improves Kids’ Transitions and Daily Routines
The fact that kids struggle with transitions is well known. However, life happens to kids and adults alike. Therefore, as challenging as transitions might be, kids cannot avoid them. It is no surprise that some public schools have embraced mindfulness despite its roots in the Eastern religion. Schools are using mindfulness as a tool for combating attention disorders, social conflicts and high levels of anxiety in children.
In school, transitioning is part of the daily activities. Therefore, kids have to find a way of coping with the multiple transitions. Schools can make the work much easier for kids by introducing approaches that embrace mindfulness. What this means is that parents back at home can embrace the same approach and use it in raising their children while ensuring that home is a peaceful place.
At times, families have to move from one place to the next. Moving excites kids to no end. However, arriving at the destination is not a pleasant experience for most kids who take a long time to process changing surroundings. The practices associated with mindfulness such as chanting, Yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation can help children deal with these transitions effectively.
Slowing down is one of the ways through which children can learn to deal with transitions and the moving from point A to point B. And children actually respond faster to the teachings that revolve around mindfulness. In my work as a Kids Yoga instructor, many times it is the adults that I have to convince as to the effectiveness of mindful practices.
Mindfulness enables children to slow down and learn. More importantly, mindfulness does not deny children the chance to be children. It only equips them with the skills needed to appreciate whatever they are doing at any given moment. With mindfulness, children are able to focus on any activity they are involved in, even schooling, to the best of their abilities, thus increasing their overall learning capabilities.
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It is more common to read books or articles praising the positive effects of mindfulness on the adult brain. The truth is that children benefit tremendously from mindfulness as well. Kids are in need of the benefits that mindfulness can produce just as much as adults are.
The biggest attraction with mindfulness is the focus and increased attention that it elicits on the part of those who embrace it. If mindfulness can help adults improve their level of focus on everything taking place presently, then kids need it even more so. This is because, as you may have observed, it is difficult for kids to be attentive or remain focused for very long periods of time.
Furthermore, regardless of age, no human being is completely exempt from stress. As the world keeps changing, kids are increasingly suffering from stress, as is the case with adults. Therefore, the fact that mindfulness is one of the most effective stress-busters makes it ideal for kids who suffer high levels of stress for people that young. Such high stress levels can be devastating on the overall health and wellness of such young minds.
Mindfulness helps the mind to slow down and relax. The negative effects of stress in a kid do not wait until one is old to manifest themselves. The main benefits associated with mindfulness that adults have enjoyed for years are also available for young children to derive a lot of peace and pleasure from. These benefits include:
a) Heightened focus
b) Improved quality of sleep
c) Reduced stress levels
Mindfulness helps children to increase their levels of focus and awareness. Consequently, a focused and increasingly aware child performs much better academically. A child who has benefited from mindfulness can tackle schoolwork with a sense of calm and focus. Such a child is able to avoid many forms of distraction that could make studying and attending to schoolwork feel impossible for the disintegrated young mind.
Creating a peaceful atmosphere at school is possible if the teachers embrace the principle of mindfulness. Young school-going children have shown an uncanny ability to develop a lifestyle of reflection, movement, listening and breathing, which are crucial, components of mindfulness. By training young minds to develop such abilities, everybody will benefit from studying and teaching in a peaceful school.
And so, if you have come to value mindfulness as a way of life, I urge you to ask for it from your children’s educators. In my experience, when a group of parents approach administrators or other staff members at a school in order to begin something positive, such as Goldie Hawn’s ‘Mind Up’, the parents are often heard. I have seen the positive effects of ‘Mind Up’ on kids at my own school, but only if it is embraced whole-heartedly by the classroom teacher. If I had had either Yoga or any other mindfulness-based practices offered to me at my school growing up, I know that I would have spent far less time in the hallway and a lot more time engaging in the knowledge that was being offered to me.
How Mindfulness Improves Kids’ Transitions and Daily Routines
The fact that kids struggle with transitions is well known. However, life happens to kids and adults alike. Therefore, as challenging as transitions might be, kids cannot avoid them. It is no surprise that some public schools have embraced mindfulness despite its roots in the Eastern religion. Schools are using mindfulness as a tool for combating attention disorders, social conflicts and high levels of anxiety in children.
In school, transitioning is part of the daily activities. Therefore, kids have to find a way of coping with the multiple transitions. Schools can make the work much easier for kids by introducing approaches that embrace mindfulness. What this means is that parents back at home can embrace the same approach and use it in raising their children while ensuring that home is a peaceful place.
At times, families have to move from one place to the next. Moving excites kids to no end. However, arriving at the destination is not a pleasant experience for most kids who take a long time to process changing surroundings. The practices associated with mindfulness such as chanting, Yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation can help children deal with these transitions effectively.
Slowing down is one of the ways through which children can learn to deal with transitions and the moving from point A to point B. And children actually respond faster to the teachings that revolve around mindfulness. In my work as a Kids Yoga instructor, many times it is the adults that I have to convince as to the effectiveness of mindful practices.
Mindfulness enables children to slow down and learn. More importantly, mindfulness does not deny children the chance to be children. It only equips them with the skills needed to appreciate whatever they are doing at any given moment. With mindfulness, children are able to focus on any activity they are involved in, even schooling, to the best of their abilities, thus increasing their overall learning capabilities.
You can find an another reference here