HERE Presents Your Mindful Family Toolbox
Engage Together Mindfully For Better Outcomes
By Jen Armstrong
The dissertation I wrote for my first Psychology degree was about children taking part in ‘The Achievement for All Project’ in their school, and how parental engagement affected their academic achievement. I found that parents who engaged more in their child’s school, i.e. spoke to teachers more, engaged with their child’s homework, engaged with other parents, schools events etc., positively affected their child’s achievement levels.
“Character Education and Emotional Development”
My research, and much of the supporting research evidencing the positive benefits of engaging in your child’s education is very promising. However, this benefit has mainly been centred upon supporting a child’s academic education, but what about their character education and emotional development? That is just as important, if not more so, especially in the wake of recent years and ever growing evidence that children’s mental health is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
Yoga and mindfulness being introduced into schools is becoming increasingly common which is such great news! However, many children are still not exposed to this type of support in schools, therefore another way in which they can engage in mindfulness is within the home.
“Note: I genuinely went to make a cup of Yogi Tea at this point of writing, and attached to every tea bag is a quote- on this one it said “lift people up to their potential and higher self”. Seeing as though it was so relevant I had to write that into this post!!”
Researchers, governments and individuals are increasingly reporting the benefits of engaging in mindful activities, such as yoga, with your child and family. These benefits can include:
Learning to be present and still together- the importance of taking a moment to relax.
Promoting exercise, positive body image and self-concept.
Parental modelling of positive, mindful behaviour.
Aiding relationships by talking about the activities you engage in and your shared experience.
Opening communication on how it makes you feel which aides development of emotional regulatory skills.
Creativity skills.
Promoting time together and having fun!
This is where HERE come in to play, as we want to aide your input in your child’s character development. Rather than just taking them (or yourself!) to a yoga or mindfulness class, or them doing it in school as a separate experience, we want to bridge the gap and allow it to be something you can share and enjoy together. Take some time away from those gadgets and the online world we are so easily drawn to now by choosing to engage in an element of your weekly Mindful Family Toolbox! If you don’t have much quality time together in the week, it is a really valuable way to spend it, sharing that space of calm.
WEEKLY PREMIUM CONTENT PACKAGES
We are developing weekly premium content packages which relate to a monthly topic, and will be filled with the following:
Creative activity (creativity)
Time in activity (developing relationships)
Breathing exercise (emotional resilience)
A yoga pose from the weekly sequence (strength and flexibility)
Night time affirmation (self-concept)
Monday morning motivation (goal-setting)
Noticing any changes (self-awareness)
We know all parents and children learn and engage through different means, so we wanted there to be a variety of weekly mindful activities, all of which will aide one element of your child’s development.
We are so excited to share our weekly Mindful Family Toolbox’s with you, and to help raise awareness of the positive impact engaging in this can have on them and you also.
Were are Here For You, For Them x
