Making Compassion a Habit
Using a lightly weighted eye pillow is a wonderful way to release anxiety by stimulating the vagus nerve and slowing the heart rate. Here’s how to make your own eye pillow, either for yourself or as part of a Peace Kit for someone else, plus a simple sleep meditation to help you relax and rest.
While free play outdoors is always a good option for kids, making outdoor time mindful offers additional benefits, like easing anxiety and boosting feelings of calm. This simple Clothing Cut Out project is an engaging activity to do with kids that combines art and the outdoors while helping them tap into mindfulness through their sense of sight.
As we move through another week of quarantine in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, I’m definitely feeling the effects of being house-bound and out of physical contact with my extended family and friends. While I’m coming to accept this new normal, I’m also experiencing a pretty consistent level of anxiety (anyone else having a hard time sleeping?).
With the pandemic keeping us inside more hours than I’m used to, walking outside has become a necessity – and not just physically.
Introducing young children to the concept of peace helps them return to those feelings of calm and contentedness when they experience emotional overwhelm. Linking the feeling of peace with a particular person, like a parent, teacher or friend helps reinforce for kids that they’re not alone when they need help regulating.
With a quarantine in progress across many parts of the world, now is a perfect opportunity to encourage kids to be of service at home (they might disagree, but stay with me here).
We are honored to announce our partnership with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center through the newly launched Greater Good In Education (GGIE) website!
Ever help carry someone’s groceries, drop cookies off at your neighbor’s or slip a few quarters into an about-to-expire parking meter? Or maybe you smiled at a stranger walking by, helped an elderly woman step down from the bus or made a funny face to distract a fussy child.
This activity directs us to use our sense of sight to uncover what might not be readily seen. Step outside — or if the weather’s not exactly cooperating, you can try this indoors. Taking a picture of each find is a great way to tally up how many hearts you see.
Encourage your little one to look high and low, behind and under different objects: does the bark on that tree grow in a cool pattern? What’s under that pile of leaves?
If snow currently blankets your world, it might be more challenging to find heart shapes. Instead, create treasures for each other to find. Gather sticks of different lengths and lay them out in a heart or use one to draw a heart in the snow. Paint flat rocks with colorful hearts to leave around the neighborhood for others to find or if it’s a clear day, search out heart-shaped cloud formations.
When kids turn on their powers of observation, they often come up with delightful insights and share a perspective we might miss. On a recent treasure hunt with my 7-year-old daughter she showed me how simply changing your perspective reveals the unexpected.
A dormant vine clinging to the side of our house didn’t seem like much at first, but when my daughter noticed the way a thin branch curved and looped, she adjusted her point of view until it blended with the rest of the leafless plant to look like a heart (see the photo above for a sample of our finds and a hand-made creation).
Now, when we step outside, we see “found hearts” all around us and point out new ones when we walk the dog or play in the park. Noticing new hearts as the seasons change is especially exciting and motivating. Enjoy your heart-shaped hunt!
Besides enjoying the benefits of fresh air, being outdoors together is a great time to be in the moment with your child and notice the ways nature helps us use our senses to connect with the environment.
How to Tap Into Your Five Senses to Find Peace and Be Present (Shape)
I am often urging my children to be more kind. But what does that really mean?
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