WELLBEING Newsletter – Week 8

MINDFULNESS IS A SUPERPOWER!

Hi all,

I hope you are having a calm and productive week.

Over the last few weeks in the Wellbeing Room, we have been playing with a wide range of puzzles and brain teaser activities – the perfect way to be MINDFUL. Visitors big and small are enjoying the challenges these tasks are bringing. Even Zahli, our Therapy Dog is getting into the action.

Speaking of MINDFULNESS, this is a wonderful tool we can all use to help us on our learning journey.

Children have a lot to navigate in this world. They are learning how to make good choices and manage their emotions. They are learning to be kind to themselves and others while keeping up with schoolwork and balancing their busy lives.

So, how can being mindful help?

Mindfulness means being fully engaged in the present moment, paying careful attention to our experience (our feelings, sensations in the body, emotions, surroundings) without judgement, but with curiosity and kindness.

Research shows there are many benefits to practicing mindfulness. There is a great deal of scientific evidence supporting the positive effects on the brain and the body. Being mindful can help one to access parts of the mind that deal with focus, decision making, and self-regulation.

Teaching mindfulness exercises not only strengthens a child’s ‘attention muscle’ but it also helps them to create distance between our big emotions and themselves. Children develop the ability to choose their responses rather than react.

When we learn to be in the here and now, we understand ourselves better, we see beauty, and we act with kindness, compassion and empathy. When we learn to pause and be present, we find our calm, our centre and our peace.

I hope you can all be mindful today; you are so very worth it.