I’ve been practicing mindfulness for about 5 years now and through that time I’ve become a mother of two. My children have seen me practicing and we’ve started small practice times together, both formal and informal. As I’ve taken courses and read books and web sites about mindfulness to further my own knowledge and practice over the years, I’ve kept an eye out for ways to adapt everything I’ve learned for our family’s “mindful time” as well.
It’s been a little tricky. I wouldn’t expect kids to sit for a daily 20-minute breathing meditation (let’s be honest, most adults have a hard time finding the time to do this!), so I’ve had to come up with fun activities and projects that both share mindfulness as a concept and give them short moments of practice that can fit in with our family, our routine, and our schedule. Even though it took me a while to figure how to make it work, we’re practicing mindfulness together on a regular basis now, and it’s added up to some amazing benefits for us all. At the very least, we’re more connected.
I’m really looking forward to applying this 28-day challenge to my daily practice. As I go through this challenge I also plan to blog about ways I’ve found to adapt some of the key concepts and exercises for use with my kids. I’m so thankful to be a part of this.
