Mindful Living

In order to live mindfully, you need to be aware of the 5 things that is needed: Presence, awareness, appreciation, reflection and action. These five  things are essential in order to attain that inner sense of peace and contentment.

• Presence – it means taking every moment throughout the day and being there not only physically but mentally and spiritually too. It is the way of connecting ourselves with the moment and the environment we are in.

• Awareness – This has become a vital part of all mindfulness activity. It requires you to acknowledge every step, feeling or impact the activity may have in order for you to appreciate yourself and be more aware of it.

• Appreciation – We should always appreciate the things around us, whether is brought by luck or it is caused by great efforts. Be appreciative and see how things will change around you.

• Reflection – Mindfulness is all about how the past experiences makes us a better individual in the future. Think about what you have done in the past and what you are now. See how different the previous experiences affected you and changed you, is it for better or for worse?

• Contentment – After being present, aware, appreciative and reflecting on your life, It is time to be contented on what you currently have in your life. Lead it for the better not just for other people, but for yourself. 

How To Practice Mindful Living

1. Find Peace in your Life

Mindfulness is a form of meditation practice – you need to make an effort to practice it everyday for you to see how it wonderfully affects you. We often go thinking about the meeting we have tomorrow, or the dinner with your family in the evening or the work that you have to finish within the day. Whether it be the past, present or future, some reflecting on your life will not hurt and who knows? It may even lead to a healthier and better life.

2. Your Physical and Mental Energy Matters

Everyday, we spent a lot of our time and energy in order to be productive for the day. We doesn’t even realize that the amount of energy that we have for the day will dictate how will our day go. If our energy level is low, we’ll have a hard time finishing task as we will easily get tired and sleepy causing us to be doing less than what we intended to do.

3. One Thing at a Time

In a world were multi-tasking became a habit, it is hard to keep our minds off from so many things. Being mindful requires you to focus on one thing at a time. Single tasking is actually easier than you thought. Also, it makes you finish your tasks faster than doing everything all at once. Bringing your focus on one thing gives you the type of clarity that you need and improves your thinking and mental health greatly.

4. Mindful Exercises

Aside from practicing mindfulness through meditation, we recommended you trying the mindful exercises too. Mindful exercise is the combination of mindfulness and exercise where you are connecting the muscles of your body and your mind too. It is also a great way of attaining the mindful state which is important in making our day hassle and stress-free!

5. Learn when to Let Go

Learning when to let go is easier said than done in any circumstances. No one actually wants to let go of the things that has been pretty much part of your everyday life. But in cases where your peace and calm is compromised, you should think again if the thing is worth the stress that it entails with. Letting go of the clutters in our mind will definitely ease your burden and at the same time frees your mind and soul.

Benefits of Mindfulness for Kids

There are many studies regarding the beneficial effects of mindfulness to adults, but little is known about the effects of mindfulness to the kids. Here’s what you should know about mindfulness and how it will benefit your child:

• Stress Reduction – Kids gets stressed too. Mindfulness has the ability of shifting your child’s focus from one thing to another. It helps remove their present worries at home or at school and their focus on practicing mindfulness. It helps redirect and train how their minds will react during unexpected situations.

• Emotional Regulation – Children are expressive of their emotions. One study that focused on the different attention and behavioral issues found out that mindfulness is an effective therapy for them. Aside from training them to focus, it also reduces the anxiety that they are feeling and regulates the different emotions that they experience.

• Cognitive Improvement – Children have a certain set of skills that allows them to focus on the tasks given to them by following the instructions or directions set. These are important especially when they began schooling. Mindfulness has the ability to improve these set of skills leading to a better adaptability when at school.

• Strengthens Self–Control – Mindfulness involves focusing a person’s attention on the body and feel the different sensations as it overwhelms the body. This is also true for the children. Mindfulness, when practiced by a child, not only shifts their attention but it also helps control their body and their selves too.

•  Improves Mood – Accepting the present moment is a vital part of mindfulness meditation. During this time, one should accept the emotions and experiences while meditating. This teaches your child to accept the pleasant and unpleasant emotions and eventually makes their emotional health good.

• Good Social and Communication Skills – Kids are social beings. They can’t stop talking and playing with each other. Mindfulness improves their social and communication skills even at a young age. It increases their awareness of their emotions and other’s too. They are going to be good listeners and talker when they grow up, indeed!

Mindfulness for Toddlers

Mindfulness for toddlers may not be as popular as that of mindfulness for adults but both are definitely proven to be beneficial in improving the overall health of a person. Many are curious as to how one can teach a toddler how to practice mindfulness without teaching them the complicated steps. We researched for different techniques and strategies on how you can promote mindfulness to your toddler.

1. Validate their Feelings

Being aware of the present fully is a great feature of mindfulness. This means that emotions should be accepted, either good or bad, to better understand ourselves.

In order for our children to do this, parents should validate the emotions of our children. Let them understand that whatever they are currently feeling, pleasant or not, is ok to have. Being empathic and showing them kindness will lead to a better expression of their emotions.

How to apply this: Whenever your child is upset or shares to you their feelings, try not telling them thing such as “You’re ok” or “It’ll pass”. Instead, put yourself in their shoes and express that you understand whatever emotion it is by saying, “You are sad because I said no sweets for today. I get sad too when I can’t eat what I want, too.”

2. Identify or Name the Feelings

Talk with your child about the different emotions, also include the different thoughts and physical sensations that experienced along with it. Giving names to these feelings will lead to better understanding of emotions for your child. They will not only understand theirs but other people’s feelings too.

Try your best to explain to them why we can’t control the emotions that we feel but we can try to choose the best way to react to these emotions. Teach them to think first rather than react mindlessly to these situations that gives them different emotions.

 How to apply this: As a parent you feel emotions too, when you find yourself frustrated, mad or overwhelmed regarding a certain situation, let them know. In this way they are able to understand your feelings and your response. For example, “Mommy is feeling really overwhelmed right now. I will just take a walk to calm myself.”

3. One with Nature

Children loves the nature as it is the best playground where their senses are heightened and are developed. Let them run on the grass barefoot or feel the breeze of the cold air outside. Experiencing nature is the best way for them to practice mindfulness.

How to apply this: Go on a walk with your child in a park. While walking, point out some things like, “Look at the flower, the color is beautiful! Do you want to smell it?” or “Close your eyes and listen to the birds chirping around us.”. Toddlers are curious and so being one with nature will definitely be a fun and wonderful experience for them.

Let us know if you tried any of the strategies listed above and how it affected your child. If their attitude and behaviors improved or their tantrums lessened. Any improvements or changes you noticed on your child while practicing mindfulness.