I love mandalas. They are one of the most effective ways to teach children mindfulness skills while they meditate. The idea behind mandalas in Buddhist practices is to create the mandala out of coloured sand while paying attention to thoughts, body, breath and emotions. Then when complete, the mandalas are released to symbolise impermanence and non-attachment. However […]
Category archives: emotional intelligence
Changing Education with Meditation and Mindfulness
I’m looking to change the education system in order that kids benefit from meditation – every day. The very fact you are reading this blog suggests that you are interested in… a/teaching your children meditation b/teaching other people’s children meditation … and you want this world to be a better place for children in the future when we […]
watch out for mindfulness ‘cowboys’
One of my students Ali Gray, is very passionate about the world learning meditation. He is one of our Connected Kids students and together with his colleague, Gary Young, is pioneering a project to make it part of the school curriculum in Scotland. At a ‘business and mindfulness’ conference, he heard the term ‘mindfulness cowboys‘ and wondered […]
Changing Education with Mindfulness and Meditation
I had an extraordinary trip to the States recently. It seemed to tie in with how I feel (strongly) about teaching kids and young people meditation. I am a passionate advocate for meditation becoming a natural part of the school day. It should be introduced into the school curriculum in the same way that we include […]
what is a connected kid? teaching meditation and mindfulness
There’s a whole story behind the name ‘connected kids’. Originally we had called our programme after the first book ‘Calm Kids – help children relax with mindful activities‘. However the name didn’t sit comfortably with me. I felt a bit ‘icky’ with the idea of adults trying to ‘calm kids’ down. Meditation isn’t about […]
The real reason why we teach kids/teens meditation
Today I read an article about someone in the States using a derogatory term for the President. This term is an insult to people who have special needs. However a Special Olympics athlete replied to the incident with a response that gave me chills – because it was so compassionate and kind – even in […]
Useful ideas to help kids with ADHD
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a condition very close to my heart as I see kids who benefit from learning easy, simple mindful activities that help them out of their stressed state. They enter that state very easily as they basically live there. It’s not an easy existence and while I don’t think […]
Teaching mindful meditation to kids with ADHD
For a long time I’ve been banging on about children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) moving and fidgeting because they are ungrounded and the movement is their way of trying to rebalance – not intentionally be disruptive. A recent study now shows that kids with ADHD must move to learn. At last we are all […]
Useful resources for teaching kids meditation
So as you can imagine, I live and breathe anything to do with teaching kids meditation, children’s mental health and (teen’s) wellbeing. As a result, I collect a lot of information on this. If you are on our Facebook page, Twitter or Calm Kids group on FB, then you’ll know that we have become a […]
Helping Kids and Teens connect to emotions through mindfulness
One of the issues that we face as children (and all the way through life) is recognising what we feel, when we feel it. I have been practising meditation for years, yet just the other day I felt really flat and couldn’t name my feeling. It was so frustrating and disorientating. I went for a […]
