Calm And Attentive As A Frog: Meditation With Children
Currently, we have a very busy life in which we do not stop for a second. This is very detrimental to our mental and physical health, so it is convenient to teach children, from an early age, to stop and calm down, practicing meditation and relaxation. To do this, various methods can be used, such as the one described in the book Calm and Attentive Like a Frog .
The author of this book is Eline Snel, a Dutch psychologist, creator of a meditation technique for children, with simple and effective exercises, based on the practice of mindfulness developed by Jon Kabat-Zin.
What is mindfulness ?
The mindfulness refers to attention or mindfulness. In other words, it consists of being present in an active and intentional way, perceiving everything that happens in the environment and within oneself, ignoring everything that is irrelevant at that moment. It is about living in the here and now.
In this way, through this relaxation and meditation technique, multiple physiological and psychological benefits are achieved, such as:
- Calm the mind.
- Learn to feel and understand emotions.
- Increase the ability to concentrate.
- Enhance subjective well-being.
- Trust yourself.
- Control impulsivity.
- Reduce stress and anxiety.
- Control aggressiveness.
- Reduce sleep problems.
- Avoid prejudice.
- Promote kindness.
- Keep your patience.
For all this, it can be said that mindfulness is recommended for all people, but especially for children, as it can be very favorable in their growth and integral development.
Calm and Mindful as a Frog : Meditating with Children
Calm and attentive like a frog , it is a perfect educational resource to learn to meditate as a family. It is a book aimed at children from 5 to 12 years old to practice meditation and relaxation with their mothers and fathers.
It describes in detail a series of stories and exercises that are simple, short and easy to carry out, which can be practiced for a few minutes every day, on a regular basis. In addition, it is accompanied by a CD, which serves to guide and orient the meditation.
The book is divided into different sections, including one intended exclusively for parents. Thus, some of the activity blocks that can be found are:
- Attention begins with the breath.
- The attention muscle training.
- From your head to your body.
- Storm is coming.
- Handle difficult feelings.
- The factory of worries.
- Being nice is fun.
- Patience, confidence and letting go.
Why should we be calm and attentive like a frog?
Within the previous blocks, one of the exercises described is the one that gives the title to this wonderful book, since it consists of teaching the little ones to be attentive like a frog. But why a frog? According to the author, Eline Snel, the reason for using this animal as a reference is because:
