T Taylor
- Jun 7, 2023
- 2 min read

What is Mindfulness and why teach it to children?

Updated: Jun 26, 2023

Mindfulness is the practice of being present and fully engaged in the current moment while acknowledging and accepting one's thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgment. It involves paying attention to one's surroundings and experiences with curiosity and openness, rather than being caught up in worries or distractions. It may be what you’re feeling, hearing, seeing, tasting, etc.

There’s no calm place you need to reach, though inner calm and balance often come as a consequence of being mindful. It’s not about clearing your mind either, it’s just an honest and kind look at what you’re experiencing right now.

Mindfulness has been shown to have numerous benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving mood and emotional regulation, enhancing cognitive function, and increasing overall well-being.

What is mindfulness and why teach it to children from the Rainbow Breath Series - a set of mindfulness books for children.

By teaching children mindfulness skills we help them increase their well-being and enable them to meet the stresses of the world with presence, self-compassion, and openness. It helps children develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and empathy. It can also help improve attention and cognitive performance, reduce stress and anxiety, and enhance overall well-being. In addition, mindfulness can be a useful tool for children with ADHD, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.

The earlier we do so in their young lives, the greater the opportunity to help them cultivate resilience and develop and refine their mindfulness practice as they mature.

Teaching mindfulness to children can also help shape three critical skills developed in early childhood: paying attention and remembering information, shifting back and forth between tasks, and behaving appropriately with others. These executive functions are essential for more advanced tasks like planning, reasoning, problem-solving, and positive social relationships.

Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness for children may include:

1. Increased focus, attention, self-control, classroom participation, and compassion.

2. Improved academic performance, ability to resolve conflict and overall well-being.

3. Decreased levels of stress, depression, anxiety and disruptive behaviour.

Overall, teaching mindfulness to children is an important way to promote their physical and mental health, as well as to equip them with valuable skills for managing stress and promoting well-being throughout their lives.

MJ & T

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