relaxation – mindful littles

Breathe through Bingo

June 14, 2017tanukargordon

A few weeks ago Mindful Littles had a wonderful opportunity to host a mindfulness station at a local elementary school’s Wellness Fair. There were 4 other stations including yoga, karate and two different sports. During the fair every child in the school, about 400+ children in total, rotated through each station in 15-minute increments over the span of several hours. For our Mindful Littles station, we created a game called “Breathe through Bingo.” As I’ve noted in past posts, there’s lots of different and creative ways for kids to learn how to relax and breathe. Our bingo game included 16 different ways to breathe. We randomized these breaths on bingo cards using an online bingo card generator. A few examples included snake breath, ocean breath and belly breath. I even made up a few breaths including “Birthday Cake,” where you inhale the smell of a yummy cake and blow out the birthday candle.

Soothing Practices Before Bedtime

May 3, 2017May 9, 2017tanukargordon

In the past, I’ve written about how a simple foot massage can be deeply relaxing for littles, or even how breathing can be taught in fun ways to help calm young kids. Recently we have been having success with a couple of other practices right before bedtime to help soothe our girls. Read more →

Even breathing can be fun

March 23, 2017March 23, 2017tanukargordon

Last week my 5-year old walked in the door from school and was really upset because her sister got to watch a TV show while she was away and thought that her sister would get an “extra” show. She started crying really hard and what was a trivial occurrence had become a very big deal in her mind. I let her cry and told her that I understood she was upset, but that things aren’t always fair. If she needed to calm down that perhaps she could go to the Peaceful Place in the corner of her room to settle down. She walked into her room bawling her eyes out, and then two minutes later walked out completely calm and prancing around the house like nothing had happened. I was in complete awe. She seemed like a different child within just a few minutes.

A Peaceful Place for a Positive Time-Out

January 12, 2017January 18, 2017tanukargordon

My husband got the book: Peaceful Piggy Meditation as a holiday gift for me and the girls, which is a children’s story about the importance of finding some peace and quiet during stressful and anxious times. While the book is a good source of encouragement, meditation is not something I explicitly force my girls to do yet, as I’ve noted in previous posts. For my children, it would be met with a lot of resistance, and I don’t want them to view meditation as another thing Mommy is making them do. I want meditation to be something that they naturally start seeking themselves as they get older when the time is right for them. Read more →

A Scrappy, Tactile Art Project: Our Very Own Mandalas

January 6, 2017January 18, 2017tanukargordon

Mandala coloring books have become a big trend, and rightfully so. These books are not only fun, but have a very soothing and relaxing effect on any artist- littles and bigs alike. The word ‘mandala’ is a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘circle’ and it “repre sents harmony, wholeness and the infinite nature of the universe.” The mandala image is a series of concentric circles that contain different interlocking geometric patterns.

In order to color each shape in a mandala, you have to stay intently focused on the present, remaining very attentive and calm, so it makes for a great mindfulness activity. Researchers have studied the healing effect of mandalas and found that coloring a mandala for 20 minutes can have greater improvements on anxiety levels than free-form coloring for 20 minutes. In another study participants who “created mandalas (versus those who drew static objects) demonstrated significant improvements in mental health, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.” Read more →

Memory Yoga Game

December 8, 2016December 8, 2016tanukargordon

A local mom recently told me about an awesome game called Memory Yoga Game. It’s a matching game of yoga postures. Essentially, you place all the cards face down, and try to get two matching yoga postures. Once you find a match, you have to do the yoga posture to be able to keep the match.

Cloud Shape Game…with our feelings

November 7, 2016December 8, 2016tanukargordon

One of my husband’s favorite games to play with our kids is Cloud Shape Game- a great way to tap into your imagination and dream up what object a cloud looks like as they float by. This last weekend I decided to add a bit more to the simple game and turned it into a mindfulness activity.

The Game

I found 15-minutes of mommy-daughter time with my 5-year old. We got a couple of picnic blankets, took a pad of paper and a pencil and went into our backyard. Before we even played, we just laid on the blankets on our grass, soaked in some fresh air and watched the clouds drift by, which was extremely relaxing and peaceful. Read more →