Self-care is essential for anyone aspiring to lead a happy and fulfilling life, for kids as much as adults. Helping your children learn self-care habits can set them up to be self-sufficient and give them the skills they need to reduce stress and regulate their emotions and behaviors. It can also increase their chance of having healthy attachments to others.
From kid-friendly yoga to alone time, In School Yoga shares five ways you can teach children to tend to themselves.
1. Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga focuses on slow, relaxing poses to reduce stress and connect with your body. Kids can benefit greatly from the mindfulness it brings and can even follow along with videos on YouTube, so they don’t have to remember all of the poses themselves. Many poses, such as legs up the wall pose, are wonderful to do alone throughout the day, even if they don’t plan on doing an entire session. If your child develops a passion for yoga, consider signing them up for programs offered by In School Yoga.
2. Colouring
There’s a reason colouring books have taken off for adults and children in recent years. They are an excellent activity or clearing your mind and can be a form of active meditation. Many kids can get distracted by tablets or television and forget to sit down for more simple, quiet activities. Help children find a book that aligns with their tastes and interests, and encourage them to colour in silence or with peaceful music in the background.
3. Journaling
Journaling is an incredible way for kids to grow in their emotional development and get thoughts out of their heads and onto paper. The benefits of journaling are innumerable, from helping their writing to improving their communication. Taking children to buy a journal can be a fun activity that helps them feel cared for and excited to get started.
4. Deep Breathing
Focus on the breath is a simple and effective way of steadying the mind. Before meditation is possible we must learn to steady the wild mind. Breath work (or Pranayama as referred to in Yoga) is an excellent tool for kids to have in their back pocket when they want to balance their nervous system. Kids love story and anything visual, bumblebee breaths (Bhramari) can be a fun way to play and experience the wonderful calming effects of pranayama. It’s important these are taught properly by a qualified teacher as they can have powerful effects on the body.
5. Connecting With Others
Today’s world can be isolating for adults and kids alike, so teaching your child ways to positively connect with others is invaluable. Encourage kids to write kind and thoughtful notes or express their needs and emotions to others so they can feel the benefits. You can also teach them how great it feels to help others when they need it, from doing chores around the house to assisting their friends at school.
Be a Role Model, Personally and Professionally
As a final note, it’s important to remember to demonstrate to your children that you also take care of yourself. When you are stressed and overwhelmed, it can affect your children and their routines. If you’re experiencing burnout from work or owning a business, you can improve your own well-being by cutting down on distraction, saving major tasks for first thing in the morning, and delegating some work to others. Getting organized and narrowing your work to what is essential gives you more time to focus on yourself. Here are more strategies to consider.
The skills here are ones that kids can use for a lifetime. By learning that they have some control over their own well-being (being a role model can definitely help with this), your children can increase their agency and happiness.
This brings them one step closer to secure attachment and emotional self-regulation.