With so much extra time at home with our littlies, there has never been a better time to introduce them to the wonderful benefits of mindfulness. Teaching our children to unwind, experience life beyond gadgets and become emotionally smarter has shown phenomenal results. Clinical research found that some of the core benefits of teaching children mindfulness include an increased ability to relax, better immunity, improved mood and sleep, and much more. Dedicating just a few minutes to your child’s mindfulness practice every day can show significant improvements in their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Here are some easy exercises you can try with your littlies to encourage mindfulness at home…

Mindful & Co Kids.

Mirror Me Yoga

How to Start:

Have your child stand opposite you and make eye contact with them. If you’re working with more than two children, demonstrate this game with one child first, and then pair everyone up to play together.

It’s a brilliant way to improve body awareness and proprioception, as well as empathy and observation skills.

Note: You can use our Yoga Flash Cards to familiarise yourself with at least 5 postures before introducing this game.

How to Play:

One of you is the leader and the other is the mirror, copying the leader’s every move.

Move into yoga pose - move slowly so that your child can mimic what you do. The idea is that you start to move in unison as they match their movements as closely as they can to yours.

Hold each pose for as long as feels appropriate before slowly shifting into the next one.

The leader tries 5 yoga poses before you switch so that the mirror has a chance to lead.

Tree Climbing Meditation

Close your eyes and take some deep breaths. Feel the air filling your body.

Now, imagine that you’re climbing a really beautiful, very tall tree.

You start at the bottom - it’s the perfect tree for climbing. There are branches sticking out that are easy to hold onto, and you start climbing up.

Your hands, arms and legs all feel strong as you pull and lift your body up from once branch to the next.

You keep on climbing - you can feel the roughness of the tree bark under your hands, and you can smell the wood and the leaves.

Up and up you climb.

Until you get to the very top of the tree.

At the top of the tree there is a beautiful branch - it’s the perfect branch for sitting on. It’s curved so you can sit comfortably and rest your back against the tree trunk, and you feel completely safe and secure.

You sit on this branch and take a few more deep breaths. Your body is strong. Your heart is beating a little faster to start with, because of the effort you put into climbing the tree - but then your heart starts to slow down.

Your body is calm.

Your mind is calm.

The big tree supports you and you feel safe, and you feel free. And you know that sitting here, at the top of this beautiful tree, you are able to think clearly about anything.

There is nothing to worry about here. There’s nothing you need to do. You love this tree, and you feel a sense that the tree loves you too.

You are safe, calm and loved.