Ideas to help Children’s Mental Health Week
We assume kids’s psychological well being is essential all 12 months spherical, 24/7.
But this consciousness week within the UK (sixth to twelfth February) helps us to create or develop the dialog about:
- why psychological well being is so essential for younger folks
- and easy steps we are able to take to help constructive psychological well being for youngsters and youths.
The consciousness week is run by the charity Place2Be – which does some improbable work and gives some good assets.
What’s fascinating is that the theme for this 12 months is ‘Let’s Connect‘ (interesting to us as our 20-year teaching programme is called Connected Kids!)
When we have connection (to our breath, the world, other people and to our own internal resources) we feel we belong. It helps us feel strong, think clearly and engage with life in a positive way.
This is what we want for young people. Especially in a world that makes many demands on their attention and abilities, yet doesn’t at all times think about the affect on baby growth.
So we have to give younger folks the talents and (aware) instruments to navigate this.
Hence we train meditation and aware abilities which might be child-centered and meet the wants of all youngpeople – all ages and talents.
We notably appreciated the paperchain concept that was promoted by Place2be.
It reminded us of our childhoods, creating paperchains for Christmas decorations.
In this occasion, every hyperlink of the chain represents an thought/picture or phrase that assist younger folks to understand what connects them to the world and to themselves.
From a aware/meditation perspective, we’d recommend just a few concepts to assist create one other component of making the chain.
Colour
The colors we select are vital. They talk to ourselves (and others) the place our power is in any given second. It’s one thing we discuss (so much) on the Connected Kids programme, because it’s such a simple and delicate method for youngsters to articulate their wants – via color.
Paying consideration to the colors they select for the chain may help us perceive what’s essential to them. Red – energy/security, Orange – enjoyable, playfulness, relationships, Yellow – confidence, feeling good about themselves, Pink – they want a hug!, Green – gratitude, compassion, belonging, Blue – discovering the phrases to specific what they really feel, Purple – exploring their creativeness and serving to them resolve issues, White – their place on the planet and the way they belong in it.
Meditation with Colour
In our expertise, we now have discovered utilizing color in meditations is a quite simple but improbable method to assist kids really feel extra balanced and relaxed. The color they select for the meditation is the one their power wants (see record above for reference, although they could select a special color and that’s okay!)
Simple steps
- Simply invite the younger particular person to get snug (and chill out)
- You would possibly get them to take just a few deep breaths and breathe out stress
- Think of the color they like/need – throughout them like a bubble
- Really describe it forming round them – point out prime, backside, in entrance, behind, above and beneath.
- Use all of the senses in describing this.
- Then invite them to breathe it in – it’s their therapeutic color. Their balancing color. Imagnie, really feel, ‘see’ the color breath going into the physique and travelling on route like their blood does carrying oxygen.
- They at the moment are completely crammed and surrounded in color.
- They can relaxation into their color bubble (and use no matter constructive phrases you need right here).
This is a good meditation for youngsters who’re anxious. It’s additionally nice to assist them sleep. If your baby can’t think about colors (some can’t) – consider their favorite quantity as an alternative.
And the meditation works for all ages – younger and previous. So bear in mind to attempt it.
If you want to obtain a recording of this meditation, simply click on on ‘keep in touch’ (particular gives) as we’ll be sending this out to our mailing record within the subsequent few weeks. Check your spam for those who don’t see it.