Hello and welcome to the next session of mindfulness meditation and calm breathing for kids.
In the last session we looked at the idea of mindful seeing and with the help of our focus object we discovered so many new things that we hadn't already seen.
Let's take a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and do a little bit of mindful seeing.
Just take a little look around the room or the area that you're in and try and see something new.
I'm going to go silent for the next 30 seconds and I just want you to point out to the person meditating with you all of the new things that you see.
Are you ready?
Go for it.
Great work.
So what did you see?
Now remember mindful seeing and mindful hearing are great ways to overcome boredom.
If you're ever feeling bored just take a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and take a very focused look around the room and you'll start to see and hear things that you didn't even know that were there.
Okay so what we're going to look at today is our morning routines.
Getting up in the morning and getting ourselves ready on time.
Making sure that we get everything done without frustration,
Without yelling and without a rush.
I know in my household with my two boys Archer and Jordan,
If we don't plan ourselves ahead of time,
If we don't do some calm breathing,
If we don't get super focused,
Sometimes it can get a little bit chaotic and it become a bit of a rush and get a little bit stressful and I don't know about you but that's not a great way to start the day.
What's much better is that when we all work together as a team and as a team we work out exactly what needs to be done in what order and it gets us out and we get to the place that we need to get to early.
We get there on time and we're not stressed,
We're not rushed.
It could be getting to school or kinder,
It could be getting to a family member or a friend's house or could be going out to get some food or go shopping or do some other errand.
Whatever it is there's a couple of things that we can do to get ourselves ready in the morning without the stress and using the powers of meditation and calm breathing we can do it.
So the first thing we should all do like always is take a big slow calm breath just to settle ourselves and get ourselves ready.
Then we need to work out what our priorities are,
What's the very first most important thing that we need to do.
So I'm going to go through what works in our household but the best way that you can work out what works for you will be to have a little calm discussion with your parent,
With your carer and work out together what needs to be done every morning and in what order.
With me,
With my boys the first thing we do is get out of our pajamas,
Get out of our diapers and into clothes for the day.
That's the very first thing.
We wake up,
We say hi and we're like hey let's get our daytime clothes on and that prompts Archer to go over to his drawer and have a look,
Have a look at the clothes for the day and if he needs some help or if he's not sure take a slow breath and then ask calmly and politely and say hey can you help me choose the clothes for today or I need a little bit of help with these buttons or I don't know about these shoes I'm struggling to slip them over my feet right now and you know what he's learned to do?
He's learned to do it in a calm controlled voice.
If we find that he's getting a little bit frustrated we just take a big slow breath,
Big slow calm breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and then either with that calm and controlled and focused breath he's able to do it himself or he can use his words and ask for help and we can understand him because we're not yelling and screaming or having any of that chaos we're just super calm and super controlled.
Just a big slow breath and after we've got ourselves dressed the next part of our morning routine is to get our teeth and our hair and our toilet done and once again we just go through the process as a team as a family making sure we stay calm and in control and if anyone needs some help they take that slow calm focused breath and then they'll either ask for help or they're able to do it and then after they've gotten dressed and after the teeth and the toilet and the hair and all those other little things we sit down and have some food but before we sit down and have some food we have to have a little discussion say hey what do you want for breakfast and everyone says what they want and then do you know what my boys do?
They come and help.
Now some of the things for breakfast they simply can't reach or they're simply a bit too young to do but they do what they can do.
They might grab their bowl out or put their milk in or set the table.
We work out as a family together without talking with our words calmly what we want to get done what we need to get done and everyone pitches in and helps out.
Once again if anyone gets a little bit frustrated or unsure we just all take a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and talk it through.
One of the things that I realized with my boys that helps them to understand and to get ready and to be motivated to do all the morning time routine is to have two things in place the first one is consistency.
We have a wake up time we always wake up at the same time every day with an alarm and then we always go through the same morning routine.
I know personally I like to wake up I meditate and I exercise and then I help my family with their morning time routines and I know that having the same morning time routine every day is the best way to get going in the morning because everyone knows what they're doing without having to make complex decisions right when it's the hardest.
The second thing I know with my boys is that they want to know why.
Why are they getting ready?
What are they getting ready for?
So I found that the best way to help my kids is to let them know what they're doing and why.
I tell them it's like hey we've got to get ready for school or we're going to go see grandma today or we're going to go shopping or whatever it is we're doing and once they know why once they know why that they should get ready for them they're far more invested and far more willing to get going and I let them know it's like hey if we stuff around if we don't get this done this is what will happen it's not a punishment it's not a it's not anything bad it's just a natural consequence if we're late this is what will happen so if you're ever not sure as to why you have to get ready just take a big slow breath big calm breath and ask say hey hey mommy hey daddy hey nana hey whoever what are we getting ready for today or hey I need your help with this little bit getting ready from that calm controlled and focused perspective you'll be able to get ready and get things done and that way the rest of your day will go super smooth so let's take one more big slow breath through the nose and out through the mouth you ready great work now remember if you have any questions about a morning routine maybe about setting one up that works for you and your family ask the person that's meditating with you to ask me in the classroom and I'll answer it straight away have a great day hey there I just wanted to let you know that this track was from my course mindfulness meditation and calm breathing for kids it's out now and you can check it out of my profile enjoy
