Mindfulness for kids/teens ~ A resource for our kids
As parents, we appreciate how much our kids are impacted and influenced by their world, including peers, academics, perhaps mental or physical illness, social, environmental and global crises. Yet how are we to best support them when we too are suffering?
We often do our best by ‘just giving them something’ as if to feel better ourselves yet do we look at the resource offered? Is it developed for how the youth/teen mind processes stress and anxiety or is it an adult resource we ‘hope will help’ them too?
We know that developmentally, kids cultivate sustainable skills when actively involved in their creation and application. If it is our ‘telling them’ to do it, it becomes ours and not theirs, so there is little to no motivation to pursue or practice this skill.
When tools are developed solely for how the youth/teen mind understands and responds, it’s as if they have their own resource that is personalized and ‘owned’ where they are more likely to access it independently.
My former colleague, Adolescent Medicine physician Dr. Dzung Vo and his team created such a resource that I have shared with the kids I work with, yielding wonderful results.
https://keltymentalhealth.ca/blog/2021/05/breathr-mindfulness-app-new-version-20-launched
This free mindfulness app for kids is user-friendly and offers various topics that kids specifically confront while presented in a manner consistent with how they best receive and apply information. The recordings range from 2 min to 10 min.
Many of those I work with tell me how they listen to ‘the self compassion break’ in between classes if ‘super stressed’ or ‘SOBER (stop, observe, breathe, expand, respond) coping space’ before sleep or school or when seeking a calming ‘reset’
“I like it…it’s helpful when doing something stressful!” – client age 10
“I LOVE IT!! Before bed it calms me…” – client age 16
“Breathr is a great app and it helps me to calm down when I listen to the meditations. My favorite meditation is the body scan.”
– client age 11
I also have clients who listed it on their ‘safety plan’ if spiraling into negative thought patterns and preventing them from hurting themselves. They report this mindfulness app has been that impactful for them.
Here are more resources I share with permission from Dr. Vo including his book “The Mindful Teen”.
https://www.mindfulnessforteens.com
You may share these with your kids while you listen to a recording together or offering them the resources as ‘theirs’.
“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize”.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Be well and mindful with humility and compassion on this journey ~
References: with gratitude I acknowledge my colleague Dr. Dzung Vo in community as he develops and shares these valuable resources through expertise, passion and care.
