Mind-Body Bedtime: Peaceful Practices For Parents & Kids

What happens in the mind and body when a child tunes into the breath? Shifting awareness to their inner world, allowing muscles of the neck, chest, core, and back to relax, creating gentle organ massage, becoming aware of the space inside oneself. Being mindful of breath shifts your child’s awareness from alertness to relaxation physically, chemically, and mentally. Connecting with your child during this transition benefits both parent and child. The game introduced in this module is a peaceful game in which the child and parent blow up an imaginary colorful bubble in which they can feel safe and relaxed, at bedtime.

How does a gratitude practice support relaxation and sleep for your child? Focusing on the positive parts of the day, and finding blessings, shifts the mind away from negative states of worry and anxiety. Helping your child end the day on a positive note actually changes brain chemistry to allow for mental and physical relaxation and restful sleep. Sharing gratitude with your child shows them that their life experiences are important to you and conversation is worth having together. The peaceful game today is called “Thankful Pajamas,” in which gratitude is expressed as clothes are changed.

How does body awareness create sleep for kids? After a busy day of activity, the brain needs to integrate new information. A roll call of body parts can help the brain process the day. When the body feels accounted for, it can rest and relax. Comfort with body awareness can pave the way for healthy future conversations. If a child knows what feels right in their body, they will be able to tell you if something is wrong. The peaceful game today is “Pretty Palms,” an experiment sending color through the hands into different body parts.

For a child, practicing creating positive imagery with their imaginations is a powerful skill to change their mood and outlook. Focusing on positive stories and ideas can boost the production of soothing hormones that relax the body and mind. At bedtime, inventing simple delightful stories with your child can anchor in this skill. This bedtime peaceful game called “Floating Feather” is about imagining a beautiful feather that slowly floats down to land softly upon you, bringing feelings of warmth relaxation, and love.

How does connecting to nature help a child feel sleepy? Experiencing the natural world as it transitions from day to night can be a powerful metaphor for children. Twilight is when the world becomes softer and slower; when many animals find their resting spots and stars come out to shine. Following the rhythms of nature and feeling part of the natural world can induce feelings of safety and connection for children that bring relaxation and sleep. This peaceful game called “Window Whispers” sends out loving messages to the natural world and helps us trust that love comes back to us.

Using the imagination to create desired outcomes, or to re-create a negative event with a positive spin, gives a child power and efficacy. Reviewing one’s day and noticing the changes they would like to make, and then creating wishes to be granted for another person supports the skill of compassion and forgiveness for mistakes. The peaceful game today is called “Wishing Wand” in which you imagine the most perfect magic wand, grant a few wishes for yourself and loved ones, and then tuck it under your pillow for use another time.

How is the connection through gentle touch beneficial to a child? Touch reassures a child of connection to the parent or another caregiver, offers co-regulation at the nervous system level, relaxes the body, and offers the child a chance to communicate about preferences to the parent and be heard. It also fosters a sense of trust in a child’s own body. Through gentle touch, parents create a loving safe container to support their children to feel confident in communication about their bodies. The peaceful game today is called “Rub Rub” and is a guided instruction for rubbing hands and feet.

Love is a powerful emotion that creates balance and peace within the mind and the body. Spending time with your child bringing to mind all of the people you might send love to, creates a sense of connection with the world and a sense of power in a child to create love in the world. The peaceful game tonight is called “Send a Star” and helps a child make a list of loved ones, and then supports them to send love out to each one.

How does creative thinking help a child fall asleep? Imagining what could make you feel comfortable in the moment, actually makes you feel more comfortable in the moment! Practicing how to meet one’s needs and setting up the most positive, creative experience, can help that manifest. Supporting a child to use creative thinking to solve problems gives them a sense of power that helps to mitigate stress and bring relaxation. The peaceful game for today is called “Dream Train” in which you help your child imagine the most comfortable ride to dreamland possible, and then try it out.

One of the best skills we can learn as we live a mindful life is to be in the present moment. Experiencing the now, for a child, creates a sense of connection with a caregiver, and takes the focus off of any past regrets or future worries. Supporting this awareness of the present moment, brings connection, safety, and a loving experience that produces relaxation in a child. The peaceful game for today is called “Tuck Me In” and it is a question and answer about what makes your child feel the comfiest, most loved, and safest.