Practicing Little m Mindfulness
My meditation teacher taught me that the way we do one thing is the way we do everything. With the use of ‘Little m Mindfulness’ we can make a habit out of being present during any and every activity. Bringing our awareness and full attention to the activity at hand allows us to practice little m mindfulness.
Let us start somewhere we all need to constantly be: handwashing at the sink.
Mindful hand washing is timely with COVID. It is imperative to our daily routines to have a fighting chance of stopping the spread of germs. We can use this daily activity as a perfect time to practice mindfulness for ourselves and with our children!
Watch the video to learn more!
The next time you wash your hands, slow way down.
Look at your hands. Next, notice the lines and crevices. Then, turn on the water. Listen to the sounds of the water dripping into the sink. Notice your breathing, is it slow or fast? As you rub the soap in, take in the smells, sensations against your skin, and the sight of the bubbles you are consciously creating. As you rinse, enjoy the water and note the temperature, sensation, and possible joy you are feeling by consciously paying attention in this moment. Take the 20 seconds to be fully washing your hands. Notice if you go into autopilot and invite yourself back to the present moment by using your five senses any time you go back to thinking, thinking, thinking…
A recent participant of the Integrating Mindfulness into the School Day online course, Ewelina said, “I have never noticed how good it feels to wash my hands before. It was such a sensual, amazing experience. I will never look at handwashing the same.” – Ewelina, homeschool mom
How Little m Mindfulness Makes a Big Difference
How can this change your life? Because now you know that you can engage your senses and attention to everyday activities and can bring this skill into your work, home life, and role in influencing the children you care about.
How can you extend this activity to the kids in your life?
In the classroom or home: Download our Mindful Hand Washing coloring page. Rather than just give information about how long and where to scrub, we also include cues for engaging the five senses!
How to talk to you kids about mindful handwashing: “It’s so important to do a thorough job washing our hands to prevent the spread of COVID, but did you know that we can also have a fun time doing it!? If we pay attention in a special way using our five senses, washing our hands can become a little break from hard work where we get to feel, enjoy, and slow down!”
Tips:
⏭ Try Mindful Hand Washing by yourself
⏭ Hang Mindful Hand Washing coloring page up near a sink
⏭ Share Mindful Hand Washing with the children in your life
⏭ Practice it daily, or multiple times each day
⏭ Take time after you do so to reflect upon your experience, including the children in this reflection by asking what they noticed about their experience.
⏭ Prevent the spread of COVID and have a Little m Mindful moment!
⏭ Share your experience!
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What’s coming next week? In our next #selfcaresaturday, we will be sharing a framework for Mindful Mornings for children and adults alike, with opportunities to make self-care part of your daily routine in a fun way!
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Let us know how it’s going! Tag us @flowandgrowyoga on instagram and use the hashtag #selfcaresaturday when you post pictures or videos using your Mindful Morning Routine Tracker! Or reply here to tell us about your experiences! Photos are always welcome!
Want to learn more about teaching mindfulness & self-care to children?
The Foundations of Children’s Yoga: (18 hour teacher training) Learn the skills and confidence to teach yoga and mindfulness to children. Our comprehensive training focuses on yoga, mindfulness, and the social-emotional development of children. Graduates will leave our training equipped with new tools to create engaging and captivating yoga experiences for kids of all ages. Graduates receive our comprehensive Kids Yoga Teacher Training PDF manual and a Certificate of Completion.
Integrating Mindfulness into the School Day: This course explores how to practice little m mindfulness. Whether you are working in a school or not, this workshop will help you create a structure around mindfulness, breathing, and self-regulation in your work with children. Take it live online, or catch the replay
Self-Care for Children: In this course, we explore a framework for self-care for children, while examining your own practices. Take it live, or catch the replay!
95-hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training: Participate in 11 unique courses to complete your 95-hour training, or take individual courses as you wish! Register for individual classes or the full training. You must take all 11 courses to become RCYT or a Certified Children’s Yoga Teacher. If you can’t make the classes live, it’s ok. Right now, the Yoga Alliance is allowing live or pre-recorded trainings to count toward contact hours for your 95-Hour Registered Children’s Yoga Certification! If you certify that you viewed the classes, you can still use the hours for continued education or toward your 95-hour certificate. Fall cohort begins October 1st!
Products we Recommend
How to Integrate Mindfulness into the School Day
Empowerment Cards and Lesson Plan
Love and Compassion for Teens and Tweens
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