Creative mindfulness exercises for children and adults

During the last centuries, Mindfulness techniques have been applied to solve different mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety, sleep-related disorders or pain tolerance, among others. creative mindfulness exercises are very helpful for children as well as for adults in this regard.

creative mindfulness exercises

In this article, you will learn

What is mindfulness?
Objectives of mindfulness
How mindfulness solves problems
Benefits of mindfulness activities
Mindfulness activities for anxiety and depression.
Creative Mindfulness exercises at work
Mindful exercises for children and its benefits
Mindfulness exercises for adults
Fun mindful activities that you can not afford to ignore

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is one of the most useful tools to achieve emotional balance and improve people's concentration and well-being. Its effectiveness has been proven scientifically, and there is increasing evidence that its use contributes to regulating emotions, reduce stress and anxiety, help you sleep better and promote creativity. Also, mindfulness is enriching for those who are healthy and without psychological imbalances, who want to live their lives more fully.

Objectives of mindfulness

The fundamental objective of mindfulness is directed at providing us with a method to learn how to manage trapped emotions, reactions, attitudes, and thoughts to face the situations that life presents us, through the practice and perfecting of full consciousness. Thus, we may be able to discover that through the development of mindfulness in the present moment we develop certain positive attitudes in relation to our mental state and emotions, coming to control them from freedom, self-knowledge also acceptance.

How mindfulness solves problems

If I read the above list again, I realize that most of these problems are in my mind. Of course, there are external factors: work, children's stress, and housework, interruptions and digital distractions. But how my mind deals with those external factors is the problem.
When I am fully present, with full attention, external factors are no longer a problem, because it is only me and that external factor, at that time, and not a million other things to worry.
Being present then becomes a way of handling any problem, any distraction, any stressful factor. Let everything else disappear, leaving only you and what you are dealing with right now.

Benefits of mindfulness activities

The benefits of these mindfulness activities for children and adults are explained by the way the brain develops.

Emotional regulation.
Impulse control.
Ability to build positive relationships.
Tolerance and empathy.
Regulation of fear
Attention, concentration, learning.
Morality and compassion.
Positivism, harmony, and valuation
Satisfaction, joy, and happiness

Mindfulness promotes the skills which have a great impact on the development of skills such as judgment, self-regulation, and patience. But it also gives them tools for their self-development. That is, increasing their ability to pay attention, focusing on studies and the tasks they perform, as well as motivating their observation, exploration and learning skills.

Mindfulness exercises for anxiety and depression

The lifestyle of Western societies can lead many people to suffer stress, causing psychological health problems such as depression, anxiety, etc. Like yoga, meditation and mindfulness reduce cortisol levels, a hormone that is released in response to stress. Cortisol is necessary for the body since it regulates and mobilizes energy in stressful situations, but if we have too much or it increases in cases that we don't need it, it produces many side effects. The practice of mindfulness gives its practitioners a state of calm and serenity, which undoubtedly affects our physical and emotional health. In this way, cortisol levels drop, also causing blood pressure to decrease.

Attentive music

While walking to your workplace and coming back to home. Take advantage of these moments to appreciate the sounds, the tone, and the instruments used. It is possible that music evokes certain thoughts. Try to remove them from your mind and concentrate on the moment of the song. It is another mindfulness technique for very effective anxiety.

Focus on an activity that requires attention.

Whether colouring a mandala, playing a piece of music, cooking or baking or knitting and sewing, any of these activities require careful attention that makes "forget" those anxious thoughts.

Regulate your breathing.

One of the most common physical reactions with anxiety problems is to regularize your breathing. So using one of the bases of mindfulness, paying attention in full awareness to the breath, will help balance the breath. It is advisable to inhale for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds, exhale through the mouth for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds and start the rhythm. By focusing attention on breathing, it will help clear the mind of thoughts that cause anxiety symptoms.

Creative mindfulness exercises at work

Sometimes we are anxious and do not focus on the task that we are developing, because we are absorbed in thousands of thoughts and, although we believe we have conscious control of our attention, what happens typically is that we are attending to feelings about the past or the future.
What it is about, in terms of productivity and efficiency in the actions we develop, is to say: if what I am experiencing I like and want to continue, I must concentrate on this and leave aside the rest of the concerns.

To achieve this lifestyle, here are some tips:

First, accept the things you cannot change for yourself, as they are.
Then choose a space, a place and a time of day where you feel comfortable and relaxed.
Decide how much time you will spend and commit to comply. It usually starts with a few minutes and expands with practice.
Be very patient and do not expect short-term results.
Breathing is essential: a gentle, deep and constant inspiration must be performed through the nose
Pay attention to the judgments that your mind tends to make frequently and, during the time you set, let them flow, but try not to hold on to them.
There is a version of the exercise that involves taking a minute to breathe before each decision that has to be made during the day.

Mindfulness exercises for children

creative mindfulness exercises for children

Mindfulness exercises for children is a fun way to help small to acquire conscious habits, to relax, to be more grateful, more friendly and happier.
However, conscious exercises should be done, leaving expectations aside. While calm and development are the effects of mindfulness, the main objective is to give them the skills to stay present here and now.

Walk on thin ice

This is a mindfulness exercise for children that helps them slow down their reactions to calm down and maintain awareness in the present moment, in the body and in movements.
Tell the child to pretend that he walks on thin ice and that he must move slowly and carefully.
This exercise can be more fun, and you can increase the awareness of the movements by pretending that you are a radio announcer. Say things like: "You are slowly raising your right leg and repositioning it very carefully."

The art of touching (Group exercises)

For this exercise, it is necessary to place the children in pairs. One of them is given an object (a pen, a toy, a stone, a ball, etc.), and he is asked to close his eyes. The child who has the object describes it to his partner.
After one or two minutes, the same process is performed, but this time, it is the other partner who is responsible for describing the object. Despite the simplicity of this activity, it is ideal for teaching the little ones that they can isolate their senses and, if they wish, they can focus their attention to live different experiences.

Breathe with your friend

This mindfulness exercise for children, called "Breathing Buddy" in English, is a good way to teach a child to meditate. Have the child lie down and put a stuffed animal on his belly.
Tell him to breathe in silence for a few moments and watch his stuffed animal move up and down with his breath.
Encourage him to discover other sensations in his body. You can tell him to imagine that the thoughts that come into his mind turn into bubbles and float.
Make him feel his breathing and the movement of his stuffed friend again.

Mindfulness exercises for adults

Adults can exercise mindfulness in their daily lives virtually anywhere, and any time is good to focus on the present moment, adopt a nonjudgmental mindset and treat each other with compassion.

Exercise of the five sense

This exercise is simple and can be applied quickly in almost any situation. All it takes is to be aware of our senses and experience each of them separately. To perform this activity, you have to follow this order: Look at five things you can see. Look around and choose something you would not normally notice, such as a shadow or a small crack in the ground.
Look at four things you can feel. Become aware of things you are feeling in the present moment. You can feel the texture of the breeze on your skin and the smooth surface of the table.
Look at three things you can hear and focus on the sounds around you — for example, a bird, or the sound of traffic on a nearby road. Look at two things you can smell. Pay attention to the smells that you are generally not aware of and see if they are pleasant or unpleasant. The smell of the nearby pines, the beach if you live on the coast or a fast food restaurant near your home.
Observe the taste of your mouth. Focus on the taste of the present moment. You can sip a drink you have on hand, chew gum, eat something and even notice the taste of your mouth without eating anything.
This is an easy exercise to practice, which can quickly take you to the here and now. The time you spend with each sense depends on you, but each object of attention should last one or two minutes. The idea is not to perform meditation but to return to the present with an improved state of consciousness.

Mindfulness feeding

With the rhythm of life that we have today, it is usual that we do not stop for a moment to connect with ourselves, even when we have a few minutes to eat because we either put the television or we are going around what we have What to do this afternoon. Well, it is possible to practice mindfulness while eating or having breakfast. To perform the conscious feeding exercise, you have to pay full attention to what you are going to eat.
You can start by focusing on what you are holding. Look at the sensation of what you have in your hands (for example, a toast or fork). Once you are aware of the texture, weight, colour, etc., focus your attention on the smell. Finally, bring the food to your mouth, but do it slowly and with full awareness. Note the taste or texture as it melts in your mouth. This activity can help you discover new experiences with foods that you frequently consume.

Active listening: observe nonverbal language

This activity is ideal for developing the capacity for active listening. Active listening is not hearing the other person but is totally focused on the message that the other individual tries to communicate. It is being in the here and now with full awareness. We not only focus on the words of the issuer, but also on what he tries to convey through nonverbal language.
For this exercise, it is necessary to put in pairs. One member has two minutes to explain the pleasant experience of his life or an opinion about a recent event, while the other actively listens. How do you look, your posture or your gestures say? Do you seem proud when you tell? Does it transmit passion? The receiver has two minutes to observe the nonverbal communication of their partner carefully. After finishing the exercise, both count their experience as active listeners.

Fun and creative mindful activities

Here are some fun and creative mindfulness exercises that you can not afford to ignore.
Take a shower with full attention: appreciating the touch of water, temperature changes, the smell of soap.
Brush your teeth, putting all your attention on the hand, the brush, the paste and the sensations in teeth, gums, tongue.
Concentrated coffee: or tea, or juice, water. Whatever you have for breakfast. Listen to the sound of the coffee maker or the kettle, observe the process of making your drink and wake up your smell with its aroma. Look at the changing colours if you make any mix. Feel the heat of the cup in your hands, the touch on the face of the steam. Finally, analyze the taste by taking small sips.
Move to connect with the body: Physical exercise is an opportunity to practice mindfulness. Pay your attention, especially to three aspects: breathing, the postures you adopt and the movements you make, moment by moment. If you are running, listen to the sound of your feet on the ground, perceive the air in the skin. If you lift weights, feel the cold metal bar in your hands. Do not let negative thoughts and distractions take over your body. Let them pass and focus on the body.
Listening carefully: in case you did not know if you have two ears and one mouth is to listen twice as much as you speak. At least one conversation a day, with anyone with whom you interact, intend to listen to it with all your attention. When she or he addresses you, breathe, land in the present and open your sense of hearing. Listen without interrupting, without giving your opinion, without completing the phrases to your interlocutor. This exercise is essential to transform relationships. You will tell me.
The self-check: Pause and evaluate the state of your body and your mind. How is your posture? Are you clenching your jaws? Are you thirsty? You will be surprised at what you learn about yourself through these records if you practice regularly. Try introducing these mini checks more or less every hour. If it serves you, you can set some alarm to let you know. Ding-dong: connect with your privacy. Ding dong: keep going.
Empty the hard drive: Take 10-15 minutes to sit just with a pencil and a notebook. During this time, write what goes through your head. Put black on white the thoughts that swirl in your mind. All who arrive unselected Like the exercise of putting images into an idea, putting words helps clarify it. It is like clearing the forest of the mind. Then it is clearer, and you can discover treasures hidden by the weeds.
Musical practice: Music can also be a useful tool for exercising mindfulness in everyday life. Ideally, choose a song you've never heard before and played. Do not give thoughts to thoughts that arise by assessing the style of the interpreter or the letter if you understand it. Let all those ideas appear and listen with your mind and senses open.
Try a guided meditation: At this point we recommend you practice meditation 10 minutes a day. You have to follow the itinerary we have done for you.

Best creative mindfulness exercises for children and adults