For Kids: Observing Your Thoughts Practice

This is a brief mindfulness practice for children to be curious about their thoughts and build awareness around negative self talk. Children will learn that not every thought they think is true and the practice of how to observe their thoughts. When we are curious about our thoughts, we are able to question what thoughts serve or don’t serve our well-being. We are empowered to choose what we want to believe about ourselves, others, and the world around us. We gain insight into who we are and want to be. When we learn to observe our thoughts we can notice which thoughts support us or hold us back, with that awareness we can make positive changes. This is created for children, but can help people of all ages.

Transcript

Our brains are thought-making machines.

We have so many thoughts every day about ourselves,

Others,

The future,

The past,

And even the world around us.

An interesting fact about thoughts is that not every thought you think is true.

Some thoughts you might have that aren't true are,

I'm not good enough,

I can't do this,

I'm doing this wrong,

Other people are better than me,

And many other judgments that we have about ourselves just aren't true.

How often do you stop to examine with curiosity the thoughts in your head?

We're going to practice observing our thoughts in our mind and allow them to drift away.

We can watch our thoughts the same way we watch a movie or a TV show.

Most shows and movies aren't real,

And we can be entertained and still not believe that what we are watching is real.

It can be the same with our thoughts.

We can watch our thoughts in our head with curiosity and amusement and also know that not every thought that we have is real or true.

This practice will be three minutes,

So make sure you are comfortable.

You can sit up tall or lay down with your eyes closed or looking down so your attention is on you.

You will hear a bell ring at the beginning and at the end of the practice.

Start by taking a few slow and quiet breaths,

Allowing your body to settle into this moment.

Imagine looking up at a big open sky.

The sky is clear,

And each time you have a thought,

You can imagine it as a cloud drifting by in the sky.

Sometimes when we first start observing thoughts,

Our mind doesn't make any,

Or it's hard to tell what is actually a thought.

We may wonder,

Am I doing this right?

Where are my thoughts?

Is thinking about thinking a thought?

Those examples all count as thoughts,

And once you notice them,

Allow them to float across the big sky and drift away.

If at any point you lose focus,

Or a thought is so interesting you forget you are watching them,

It's okay.

When you notice,

Come back to observing that big sky and watching the thought clouds come and go.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

Take a moment and notice how you feel.

How does your body feel?

Was it challenging to observe your thoughts?

Was it easy?

Did you notice any thoughts that were true or weren't true?

Think about a time during your day when observing your thoughts can support you.

If you haven't done so already,

You can gently open your eyes.

Thank you for practicing with me.

Reviews

Love this! Perfect for the ten-year-olds I work with. I especially appreciate that the practice starts right away, without a long introduction. Thank you!

This is fantastic especially for my son who is a negative Nancy. I’m hoping this will help reset his brain before he goes to school

Very nice- thanks!

Thank you!! That was beautiful I loved this meditation 🙏🏼😀 (Zennon, 8 years old)

Soothing, great for all ages

Love it thank you your voice.is so soothing.Namasta🙏

Very good! My grandson loved it.
🙏🏼💖🌹💕🦋💐🙏🏽🐾🌷