Calm Choices for Young Minds

“In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path - the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love.”

― Amit Ray, Nonviolence: The Transforming Power

There are many ways to support children during this time.  It is entirely understandable they might feel anxious as their worlds irrevocably change.  

It is helpful to put things into a bigger context.  History provides all kinds of examples of how life can be challenging and uncertain.  Over centuries people have endured droughts, floods, fires, economic depression, wars … and pandemics!  And they have dug deep to be resilient, resourceful and look after each other in communities.  We can do the same now.

As we navigate changes and challenges the gifts of mindfulness are amplified!  Remind children that they can practice becoming the curator of their minds … and notice where their attention needs to be and what really matters in this moment.  Remind them to regularly align their attention with a ‘bigger picture’, keeping a strong connection to their ‘North Star’!  Holding close their goals, wishes and deep values in life, to enable living with purpose and meaning.  

And most importantly, remind children that they can practice being the creators of their minds.  With every conscious, deliberate choice to focus they are firing new synapses and cultivating new, strong neural pathways.

We can remind children of what they can gain during this unusual time.  What new skills would they like to master? Which subjects at school do they want to develop? Deep satisfaction and pleasure can also be found with simple pursuits like gardening, jigsaw puzzles, cooking and all kinds of craft and art projects.  Throughout history people have created with their hands to paint, knit, crochet, sew, weave, carve and make all kinds of wondrous things with basic materials. These activities bring a host of beneficial experiences:  total absorption, states of creative flow and deep satisfaction.  They provide ‘safe harbours for the mind’, so that attention is kept in a safe, purposeful place and not diverted to rumination and worry!

Open the palette of opportunities to explore all kinds of engaging, fun ways for children to connect to their inner world and expand awareness as they practice a host of mindfulness practices: connect to the senses, retune the body and reset the brain to states of harmony and balance.   Consider a range of movement, balancing, standing, sitting, lying down and stillness practices.