Kids and Mindfulness

Caroline Wilson, M.Ed., FMHC
 You may be thinking that kids and mindfulness are not two things that naturally go together. But as anxiety continues to become an epidemic for our children and teens, we must find ways to help them make mindfulness a part of their lives.

So, what is mindfulness? 

A great definition by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction describes it well:

 Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. 

Stopping, paying attention, and noticing what’s happening around you, and everything you’re feeling, thinking and doing in that particular moment with honesty and without judgment is being mindful.  Sounds easy enough, right?

Actually, this Harvard study found that we spend almost 50% of our time thinking about something else and NOT what we’re actually doing!

Here are just a few of the health benefits of mindfulness that have been researched:
Increased focus and attention
Improved memory and learning
Less anxiety and depression
Better emotional self-regulation
Stronger immune system
Reduced inflammation 

Here are a couple of my favorite mindfulness exercises that you can do with your kids:
 
STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN
 
You and your kids can practice mindfulness anywhere and anytime.  A great way for kids to learn how to be mindful is by using the STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN method.  This involves, STOPPING what you are doing, LOOKING around you and using all 5 senses (what are you seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and even tasting) and LISTENING (listen to your body and mind and how it feels in that moment).

THE FIVE SENSES EXERCISE

Another quick exercise that can be done anywhere is the 5 senses exercise.  Notice 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.  This exercise can bring you to a mindful state quickly.
These are just a couple of examples of how you can practice mindfulness with your kids.   

Your Partner in Health!
Caroline Wilson, M.Ed., FMHC

A Note From Blair Cuneo PA-C Lead Pediatric Team Care Provider

Blair Cuneo
Pediatric Team Lead

Thinking back to my childhood, it was difficult to list many friends or classmates with multiple medical conditions that decreased their quality of life. Fast forward to working as a family practice PA-C, I saw not only the list of medical conditions and medications increasing for my adult patients, but also those of my pediatric ones. These included severe food or environmental allergies, difficult to treat eczema or asthma, overwhelming anxiety, sleep difficulties, chronic or recurrent pain with migraines, menstrual cycles, joints. I did as I was well trained to do, prescribe, and refer; prescribe and refer. I felt confident in suppressing their symptoms but not genuinely appreciating the cycle we were all in.
Traditional visits to family care or pediatric providers do not allow the time to truly sit down with a family and understand where their child is, how and why they got there, and where they want to be. Pediatric functional medicine appreciates this thorough discussion, as it will powerfully impact the creation of an individualized plan of action. Pediatric functional medicine works to understand root cause of symptoms and diagnoses. We implement medical and lifestyle therapies that will change the momentum of chronic illness and improve quality of life.

Your pediatric functional medicine team includes a medical provider and health coach certified through the Institute of Functional medicine. We work with families to target nutrient needs, understand inflammatory triggers inside and outside of the body, diversify and increase colorful, anti-inflammatory whole foods and address lifestyle balance. We work to increase the resiliency of these young bodies who are under increasing pressure to detox from stressors on their systems.

Every BODY can benefit from a functional medicine approach to wellness. Lists of medicines and medical concerns have become normalized in our society, but it is not normal and it’s definitely not optimal.
Call or go online to learn more how Carolina Total Wellness pediatric functional medicine team can optimize health for the special children in your life.