5 Mindfulness practices (not yoga) to keep kids focused

Mindfulness is the human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not get overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. Practicing mindfulness from childhood makes kids flower into stronger adults. We have some tips on it below. None of these require any special skill.  

Goal setting exercise 
Multi-tasking is good, but not always. Once your kid wakes up, ask him or her to set very simple goals for the day, make a schedule, and achieve it. It could include mundane activities like shampooing or cleaning the wardrobe, to tackling a new Math chapter. Discourage watching TV while eating, scrolling social media updates during a boring class lesson, and other activities that distract a child from what is going on. Mindfulness is all about being fully aware of what is going on. 

Discovering the 5 senses  
Set your kids a challenge: they have to peel a fruit, and eat it as slowly as possible. Then they need to describe everything they felt and noticed in the process. This will lead them to discover the five senses anew: what they saw, tasted, smelled, touched and heard while eating. This mindfulness exercise also increases concentration manifold.   

Accepting the mirror image  
Tell your child to look in the mirror and think what they want to change in the image. They will start with superficial things like changing the hairstyle or wearing something else, but as they delve deeper, they will want to remove negative traits such as laziness and temper tantrums form the image. In the process, they will grow to love and appreciate themselves.  

Focusing on breathing  
We never think about breathing since we are doing it automatically and continuously. Ask your kid to pay attention to the way they breathe for 10 minutes every day. They just need to sit still, and listen and feel how they breathe. They will learn how magical our bodies are and how controlling breathing can change emotions.  

Set daily review hour  
At the end of each day, the child can jot down conflicts and achievements of the day. A review of these actions will reveal whether something could be done better, what went wrong, and what ought to be done again. This mindfulness exercise is also good emotional intelligence training.