The Importance of Mindfulness and Guided Meditations for our Children

The holidays can be such an exciting yet overwhelming time for our children. Diaries are full to the brim with parties and playdates, gifts are being exchanged which start to become an expectation, and they are over indulged in the sugar department.  With all of this combined, it’s no wonder that behaviour may become more erratic and unmanageable, especially at bed time if over tiredness starts to seep in.

Over the holidays, I noticed that my 3 year old daughter Myla was more alert at the end of the day and more upsettingly became used to the idea of receiving gifts which gradually became less appreciated.  With this in mind, I decided to add the concept of ‘mindfulness’ to our predictable bedtime routine to ensure that we had a moment in the day to reflect and focus on gratitude.  This is already a concept that is very important to our family and I feel it is a wonderful tool to bring into our children’s routine.

We have been reading ‘Making Mindful Magic’ @makingmindfulmagic every night in bed and this focuses her thoughts on nature, technology free activities and appreciation for the simpler things in life. We talk about walking barefoot on the grass, watching birds in the sky, staring at the clouds and running her hands through leaves.   It has such a calming affect on her and it really pleases me when she wants to explore the ideas further. I have always believed that immersing yourself in the outdoors and being at one with nature improves our ability to sleep well at night anyway. Regardless, this book is a beautiful way to end the day.

Guided meditations are another valuable resource that we implement in order to highlight our appreciation for what we have but to also create the most calming environment as they transition from a very excitable day to the idea of sleep.  There are many guided meditations tailored for kids on the internet and some of my favourites feature on the ‘Calm’ app. Perhaps you might want to add some of this to your sleep routine and see how it can help your child transition to bed time more easily after an exciting day.