‘It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy‘

Here at Kalma Life we believe mindfulness for primary children is very important. We encourage our yogis during yoga and mindfulness classes to think about what that really means. Mindfulness can best be described as being in the present moment and just taking a minute to take in the surroundings.  When children are in their moment its often at this point they become more thankful for the things around them and in turn this can more than often bring them happiness.

During a typical session we ask our children to try to not let their minds drift anywhere or be preoccupied with other thoughts and if it does bring it back-something which can be difficult for our younger children as their minds are often swirling like a jar full of glitter! We tell our children that Mindfulness makes the pre frontal cortex bigger which we often hear back in return from the children ‘does this mean our brains get bigger!! Whilst we know from research that it has amazing effects on adults there is a growing body of research which also suggests that the benefits of mindfulness has so many positive effects on health and well being including mental health in children also.

Mindfulness can often help create a calm within a storm and help children focus without distraction. A tool we use within our classes is a mindful glitter jar, one which is filled with water and glitter.  We give this s big shake when we are talking about how it feels at times in our brains.  It can also help children regulate emotions and show compassion for others something which can be shown inside of the sessions also but applied into life generally. Children can gain simple, practical tools to work directly with their nervous systems, helping them regulate emotional states and focus attention.

In our Kalma minds sessions our Children’s mindfulness will start by learning focusing skills and being mindful of our body’s. When we learn to focus on just one thing, like sound or our own breath, our mind calms down and grows stronger. This helps to improve attention. When our concentration skills are refined, this can in turn, translate to improved performance. Something which Kalma mindfulness sessions for primary children helps  academically.  A series of mindfulness sessions is worked upon with children such as mindful listening, breathing and movement.  All of this is to help improve attention help children to focus on the task in hand and pay attention.  Resulting in children doing much better.

For more information visit Kalma Minds & Wellbeing early years and primary schools