This article will advise you on how to teach your child to be patient through meditation and mindfulness practices.
How To Teach Your Child To Be Patient
How to teach a child to be patient is the question on every parent’s mind across the globe right now. The curiosity and adventurousness of our children are admirable and something we can appreciate more when we get a break from it (work, school, date nights, etc.) But when the world is on pause, their need for answers is at the forefront of our worries. If our governments don’t even know the answers and can’t predict what’ll happen a month from now, how are we supposed to reassure our kids? How can we explain that we don’t know when the world is going to go back to normal, but to hold on tight and be patient?
Many of you may have gone down the route of distraction, maybe allowing your kids more screen time than usual. While that might be an easy, quick fix, it won’t solve the underlying issue here. That most children don’t understand the art of patience. Most people don’t. But, that can change with a few simple steps. And these tips apply to you too if you’re struggling with impatience yourself.
Improving your kids’ sleep
The first step is improving sleep duration and quality. You and your kids have probably been finding it harder to get to sleep at night throughout lockdown. When we’re not as active during the day, our bodies hold pent-up energy and tension. Now that your kids aren’t getting tired out from the school day, they might not be getting sleepy enough for bedtime. You might be thinking, what has this got to do with patience? Well, if your children aren’t getting enough quality rest, they’re going to feel more wired and uneasy. And, time will move a lot slower too. It already moves slower for kids, so imagine that! Improving their sleep should be top of your list before even attempting to teach them the art of patience.
Guided meditation for kids
The best way to do this is by playing a guided meditation for kids when they go to bed. First, prepare them for sleep by avoiding screentime for two hours before bedtime. That’s because the artificial blue light awakens our brains, tricking them into thinking it’s daytime. That’ll be especially disruptive if they haven’t been very active during the day. An hour before bedtime, brew your child a calming mug of chamomile tea. Chamomile tea is proven to relax your mind and make you more tired, so this is an essential step in the holistic process.
Once they’ve settled down in bed, play a guided relaxation. There are many guided meditations for kids on the Meditation for Kids app and our site.
Mantras for kids
Now, onto the real work. It’ll be tricky to teach your children to be mindful at the start, but you’ll need to be patient with them! Yes, you’ve got to practice patience too. Here at
Meditation for Kids, we believe your kids should learn meditative mantras to help ground them at the moment.
Teaching your kids positive affirmations to repeat to themself mindfully is a beautiful way to
begin their meditative journey. Positive affirmations change the way we think and feel in the
moment, and help us lead more intentional, grounded lifestyles. It’ll set your kids up for making
more mindful choices throughout their life. It’ll also help them become more positive, glass-half-full thinkers, and not get bogged down with negative thoughts. That's vital for the scary
conditions of the world at the moment you know, the global pandemic as it’s easier to
become worried and stressed out with not knowing when things will go back to normal.
The best mantras for kids are:
● I am safe and loved.
● I am healthy and strong.
● I learn best at my own pace.
● I am confident and capable.
The top two are essential for the times we’re living in, encouraging your children to remind
themselves that they’re okay and in safe hands. The bottom two are useful for home-teaching,
as your kids might be struggling with learning away from the classroom.
Please encourage your children to repeat these affirmations to themselves daily, especially
when they’re feeling worried or scared. It might be helpful to start in the morning, and before
bed, otherwise, it’s easy to forget. You could even write them on post-it notes and sticks them
around the house.
Mindful breathing for kids
Of course, there’s no meditation without breathing. While guided meditations will direct your children on breath, it’s also crucial to instill the practice of mindful breathing for general wellness.
Try the 3-breath hug to start. It will associate the safety you provide for your children with the act of mindful breathing. Hug your child, and both take three deep, diaphragmatic breaths. With each breath, focus on letting go of tension and anxiety.
Remind your child to take these three deep breaths whenever they feel anxious or scared. Then, guided meditation practices won’t be as overwhelming, as they’ll already be familiar with the breathwork.
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As you now know, mindfulness and meditation are key elements in teaching your children the art of patience. It’s crucial in the fast-moving, digital-first world we live in, where unless we make a dedicated effort, it’s hard to remain in the moment. Not only are you constantly inundated with notifications, texts, and emails, but your children are too. That is if they have smartphones. A study by Childwise found that nearly half of children aged 5-10 own mobile phones. And that probably isn’t going to change anytime soon.
But, what can change is their mindset and how they use their phones. A meditation app is one way to do that. Find out more about Meditation For Kids here.