Mindfulness and Kids

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InnerKids on TV! Whoo hoo!

A half hour news television program about InnerKids and teaching mindfulness to children will be broadcast this weekend as part of the Profiles in Caring television series funded by Equitable Life Insurance.

11Aug2008 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Somebody hawked on the holy plants and then they stole my brain. — Susan Kaiser Greenland

About a decade ago, I decided to share my enthusiasm for meditation with my family. My daughter was eight and my son was five at the time. This would take the form of a group outing, a visit to the local Zen center where we would participate in a family program. My husband […]

11Aug2008 | Susan | 0 comments | Continued
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Don’t tell my husband but I’ve developed an intimate relationship with a raisin. — Susan Kaiser Greenland

Mindful eating. Yikes! Every now and then I’ll savor a truffle, the piquant flavor of a sweet Vidalia onion, or the bouquet of a Tuscan Chianti. But all too often, I eat mindlessly. I talk to my family and friends while I’m eating. And then I do the dishes. I automatically go through the motions without question. And then I’m surprised when I climb on the scale and - WHAT? - I’ve gained five pounds without a clue that it was happening.

17Jul2008 | Susan | 1 comment | Continued
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Attention - Susan Kaiser Greenland

While attention is fundamental to mindfulness training for kids it absolutely is NOT the whole picture. Mindfulness training focuses on two areas of practice that are taught in tandem -awareness (or attention) practices and kindness practices. Without the elements of kindness and compassion, attention training simply isn’t mindfulness.

30Jun2008 | Susan | 4 comments | Continued
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A Powerful Teaching — Trudy Goodman

On June 9th, my birthday, this unknown girl touches my heart. She evokes the compassionate teaching of all the special kids who are different somehow: we don’t have to be afraid of what we don’t yet understand — we don’t have to be scared of shrieks and groans — or of our own minds and hearts.

29Jun2008 | Trudy | 0 comments | Continued
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The ties that bind. — Susan Kaiser Greenland

When a child is not bogged down by a preconceived notion of right or wrong there is less of an emotional charge around taking a look at life experience exactly as it is. This doesn’t mean that whatever is happening is ethically neutral, it just means that it is useful to teach kids to view experience objectively before taking action.

26Jun2008 | Susan | 0 comments | Continued
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A Mindful Instant Message — Amy Spies and her daughter Paris

Here’s an IM between me and my daughter.
Amy(8:05:54 PM): Hi there.
Amy (8:07:39 PM): I though t we could chat a bit about what it means to be a mindful mom. I know you’ve been exposed to this world through myself and Susan Kaiser Greenland and helping her and Trudy Goodman teach meditative arts to kids when […]

17Jun2008 | Amy | 1 comment | Continued
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Teaching Mindfulness to Children - Susan Kaiser Greenland

I’m a mom with a mission. Every movement has its breakthrough moment–a time when it no longer has to defend what it is saying and doing because the problem it has identified is so clear that others need no coaxing to join. Mindfulness training for children has arrived at that moment.

16Jun2008 | Susan | 11 comments | Continued
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Being a mom is not always pretty, and neither is mindfulness. Susan Kaiser Greenland

I don’t glorify the unpleasant nor am I a masochist. I just find the edginess of motherhood interesting. And when I read greeting cards, and parenting books, and magazine articles, and wellness blogs extolling the sweetness without mentioning the sour, well . . . . I get bored.

10Jun2008 | Susan | 1 comment | Continued
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Kids and Stress - No Day at the Beach - Susan Kaiser Greenland

Even though we have long accepted it as true for ourselves, it is difficult to accept that our kids will have to deal with problems too. To make matters much, much worse, some of them will be serious ones. Nothing will change that fact, even though we do everything humanly possible to protect them.

1Jun2008 | Susan | 0 comments | Continued
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Can Teens Meditate? Diana Winston

In this Teen Day of Mindfulness, one boy said, “I have been really upset since my girlfriend broke up with me this week. I noticed that if I just focused on my breath, I didn’t have to think about her. Every time my thoughts went there, I just returned to my breath. I felt less messed up than I have all week. That’s amazing.”

20May2008 | Diana | 1 comment | Continued
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Can happiness be taught? Susan Kaiser Greenland

Three factors working together seem to influence the happiness set point: 50% to genetics, 10% to life circumstances and a full 40% to a person’s intentional activity. The intentional activity is where mindfulness comes in.

24Apr2008 | Susan | 3 comments | Continued
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Priority messages? How we choose to spend our time speaks volumes. Susan Kaiser Greenland

These traditions, practiced at Jewish tables around the world on Passover night, are what makes this night different from all other nights.

22Apr2008 | Susan | 2 comments | Continued
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