Teaching your teen mindfulness
Regularly practising mindfulness meditation allows us to cope with everyday stresses such as work pressures and anxiety. This type of stress isn't reserved only for adults, however – children can feel overwhelmed too.
When a child is under a lot of stress, it could have serious consequences for their overall development. Learning, health and behaviour can all be negatively affected. Being a teenager is a difficult time, with many physical and emotional changes occurring. With young people spending more time online than ever before, they are arguably subject to more intense pressures than previous generations.
For teens that struggle to cope with stress, it is important to find positive ways of managing challenging times. Mindfulness is one such way, as wellbeing is at its centre and can enable children to get in touch with their emotions, become happier and more capable of dealing with stressful periods.
Schools and mindfulness
More and more schools are turning to mindfulness in lessons, to calm children after break times and during exam periods. Mindfulness helps children to be more accepting of both themselves and others and research has shown that it has a positive impact on their academic performance, helping with attention and focus.
Practice mindfulness with your children; teach them to take three breaths to help relieve anxiety before doing homework and taking tests. Done regularly, you should see an improvement in their overall focus.
Get involved
For your children to get the most from mindfulness, it helps if parents are mindful too. Get the whole family involved, here's how:
Try not to push your teenagers into mindfulness though; instead, give them the options and allow them to make up their own minds. Of the practices you introduce to them, some of them will work for them and some won't. But always allow them to find out what works best for them.
Take a look at our mindfulness books for children
When a child is under a lot of stress, it could have serious consequences for their overall development. Learning, health and behaviour can all be negatively affected. Being a teenager is a difficult time, with many physical and emotional changes occurring. With young people spending more time online than ever before, they are arguably subject to more intense pressures than previous generations.
For teens that struggle to cope with stress, it is important to find positive ways of managing challenging times. Mindfulness is one such way, as wellbeing is at its centre and can enable children to get in touch with their emotions, become happier and more capable of dealing with stressful periods.
Schools and mindfulness
More and more schools are turning to mindfulness in lessons, to calm children after break times and during exam periods. Mindfulness helps children to be more accepting of both themselves and others and research has shown that it has a positive impact on their academic performance, helping with attention and focus.
Practice mindfulness with your children; teach them to take three breaths to help relieve anxiety before doing homework and taking tests. Done regularly, you should see an improvement in their overall focus.
Get involved
For your children to get the most from mindfulness, it helps if parents are mindful too. Get the whole family involved, here's how:
- The school run can be hectic, so before leaving your home in the morning, stand together and take a few mindful breaths
- Before every meal, take a few breaths as a family
- Pick up a copy of This Book Stinks before you go on a family holiday. This fun activity book is a great introduction to mindfulness for young people
- Go for regular, mindful walks with your children. Notice what’s around you, be it noises, colours or smells
- Before bedtime, tell each other one thing that you are grateful for from that day
Try not to push your teenagers into mindfulness though; instead, give them the options and allow them to make up their own minds. Of the practices you introduce to them, some of them will work for them and some won't. But always allow them to find out what works best for them.
Take a look at our mindfulness books for children
