Benefits of Mindfulness For Kids
Mindfulness. You hear this word thrown around all the time in 2024 but what exactly does it mean?
Mindfulness is being fully aware of your body, mind and environment.
Practicing mindfulness can look a lot of different ways but consistent practice has many direct and long term benefits for both kids (and adults)!
5 Direct Benefits of Mindfulness
Research shows that practicing mindfulness has a number of direct benefits for both kids and adults. Here are a list of the top 5 immediate benefits when practicing mindfulness throughout your day.
- Activates parasympathetic nervous system
- Helps with attention and focus
- Gives sense of self-awareness
- Strengthens your mind and body connection
- Creates a conscious space for choices and responses
5 Long Term Benefits of Mindfulness
Not only does practicing mindfulness have direct benefits, it also provides long term physical and mental benefits when practice consistently overtime. I have composed a list of the top 5 long term benefits of mindfulness.
- Reduces tension and risk of injury
- Improves emotional regulation
- Strengthens your ability to respond rather than react
- Increase social, emotional and academic performance
- Reduces anxiety
After learning these benefits, it’s no wonder more and more educators are using these techniques in their classrooms.
By opening up and creating a mindful-focused classroom, your students will thrive, emotionally, behaviorally, and academically.
Practice in the Classroom
The benefits of mindfulness for kids shows the importance of incorporating these practices in the classroom. But how can we apply these practices?
Here is a list of ideas I composed to help you get started! Try one practice at a time. Take note on any changes you may see with your students.
- Implement breathing techniques before tests, reading, after recess or at the beginning, middle and end of the day
- Incorporate a “mindful walk” in your day by taking a walk around the school’s property or throughout the building, focusing on the 5 senses (what do you hear, what do you feel, etc.).
- Play mindful stories during a break (My favorite mindful stories for children can be found on New Horizon’s Youtube page).
- Implement simple mindful movements in the classroom such as child’s pose, mountain pose, tree pose, and warrior pose to help promote blood flow, increase attention and confidence.
- Use positive affirmations throughout the day to help embolden students. Write messages on their desks, put letters in their cubbies, or start the day with positive affirmations.
Conclusion
As educators, we dedicate our lives to our students, helping them to grow not only academically but within themselves. Research shows that by incorporating mindfulness into the classroom, we help our students to feel confident in doing their best.
How are you going to incorporate mindfulness practices into your classroom or home?
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