Are Kids in Canada Coping with Stress? I’m writing this post with a focus on Canada. Why? Because I’ll be going there to teach in September and I wanted to find out more about how Canadian Kids could benefit from meditation. What I find fascinating is that many of the issues facing young people in […]
continue readingTag archives: meditation
Mandala meditations for kids
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 […]
continue readingwatch 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 […]
continue readingWhy I care about your child’s happiness
I wasn’t sure what to write about in my recent blog. I get a bit tired of emails or blogs all sounding the same and a bit ‘salesy’. But that’s not me. So I decided to let you know why I feel responsible for your child’s happiness. Every time I read about the stress young people […]
continue readingwhat 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 […]
continue readingThe 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 […]
continue readingUseful 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 […]
continue readingThe difference between meditation and mindfulness
In the last 12 months, I’ve witnessed a huge increase in the interest we have in teaching children mindfulness. Compared to how this was 12 years ago when I first had a hunch we should be doing this… well it is simply astounding. I was never formally taught mindfulness. My meditation teacher, the late Kim […]
continue readingColour Meditation for Kids and Teens – helpful tips
I was recently asked about using the colour meditation script in my Calm Kids book and the significance of the colour that children choose. This video blog should help you understand and give you some useful tips for teaching kids using a colour meditation. https://youtube.com/watch?v=RQp15BA5j20%3Frel%3D0 My 2nd book Connected Kids – help kids with special needs […]
continue readingTeaching 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 […]
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