Mindfulness for children (Part 1)

This this clip show how five-year-old children, after 20 minutes of what is now called "mindfulness," were able to radically take control of what is usually considered to be an automatic or unconscious mental process. Mindfulness is nothing more than focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness techniques in children are highly effective in regulating mood--certainly easier than controlling the immune system!

So this clip is from a 1994 TV program. Five-year-old kids, after being shown a puppet show of "good guy" cells fighting "bad guy" germs, were asked to lay down for 20 minutes and imagine this battle going on in their body. Swabs of saliva showed that their bodies' immune systems, without exception, were activated at high levels noted when the body is fighting off an actual disease.

As I said, if this is possible, imagine how much mindfulness can positively affect behavior! Additionally, mindfulness practices are simple, often free, and highly effective in both addressing behavior and gaining new perspective on life.

In the next entry I will describe some simple mindfulness techniques I use in my practice, and give information on things you can do on your own.