Susan Kaiser Greenland and Annaka Harris, Teaching Mindfulness to Kids
Susan Kaiser Greenland, an author and former corporate attorney, and Annaka Harris, an author and editor, discuss teaching mindfulness to children. They offer advice for parents on modeling meditation, introducing practices through games, and navigating concerns about teaching mindfulness in schools, emphasizing well-trained teachers and a secular approach.
Deep Dive Analysis
14 Topic Outline
Susan Kaiser Greenland's Personal Journey to Meditation
Annaka Harris's Path to Mindfulness and Teaching Kids
Transformative Effects of Meditation on Personal Psychology
Early Experiences Introducing Mindfulness to Children
Strategies for Teaching Kids Mindfulness Without Resistance
Practical Approaches for Parents to Introduce Mindfulness
Overview of Mindful Games for Children and Families
Children's Natural Aptitude for Meditation and Deep Questions
The Inner Kids Foundation and Susan's Current Work
Controversies and Challenges of Teaching Mindfulness in Schools
Balancing Personal Practice with Career in Mindfulness
Addressing Concerns About Eastern Spirituality in Mindfulness
Mindfulness as an Innate Human Capacity, Not Just Religion
The Importance of Fun and Active Mindfulness Practices
3 Key Concepts
Modeling Mindfulness
Instead of directly instructing children, parents can practice mindfulness themselves in front of their kids. This allows children to observe and become curious about the practice, often leading them to engage voluntarily without it becoming a power struggle or forced activity.
Co-regulation
This refers to the process where a parent and child mutually help each other regulate emotions and states. For instance, a parent can model calming techniques like watching glitter settle in a snow globe while feeling upset, inviting the child to participate and regulate together.
Secular Mindfulness
This approach to mindfulness focuses on its universal themes and self-regulatory skills, such as stress reduction and executive functioning, without incorporating spiritual or religious components. It aims to make the practice accessible and applicable across diverse backgrounds, including in educational settings.
5 Questions Answered
Parents should focus on modeling the practice themselves rather than forcing or directly instructing their children. By embodying mindfulness and being open about their own practice, children are more likely to become curious and engage voluntarily.
You can start with simple activities like stopping to feel your breathing, using a 'snow globe game' to visualize a busy mind settling, or playing games like 'rockabye' where a stuffed animal on the belly helps them notice their breath.
Yes, children often have less 'baggage' and fewer preconceived notions than adults, allowing them to access meditative experiences more directly and advance more quickly in their practice.
A major concern is ensuring that teachers are well-trained practitioners who understand the theory behind the practice, rather than just using activities without clear teaching objectives, to maintain the rigor expected of any other school subject.
While mindfulness practices evolved from Eastern traditions, it doesn't need to be a concern if programs are secular and teachers are well-trained. Mindfulness can be understood as a natural human capacity focused on the mind, not requiring belief in any specific religious or metaphysical concepts.
17 Actionable Insights
1. Model Meditation for Children
Parents should practice meditation themselves and allow children to observe, as this modeling fosters natural interest and adoption rather than forcing participation.
2. Avoid Forcing Mindfulness
Do not force children to engage in mindfulness or meditation, as this can create resistance and lead to permanent rejection of the practice.
3. Utilize Playful Mindfulness Games
Engage children with fun, developmentally appropriate games that teach self-regulatory skills and values, often without needing to use the terms “mindfulness” or “meditation.”
4. Practice “Rockabye” Breathing
Have children lie on their backs with a small stuffed animal on their belly, explaining that their breath gently rocks the “tired monkey” to sleep, helping them notice their breath and settle into the present moment.
5. Use Visual Aids for Regulation
When a child (or parent) is upset, use a snow globe or glitter ball to visually represent a busy mind, then co-regulate by watching the glitter settle while focusing on breathing.
6. Develop Strong Personal Practice
Cultivate your own consistent meditation practice to gain a visceral understanding of its benefits, which will intuitively guide your interactions and teaching with your children.
7. Trust Intuition as Parent
A strong personal meditation practice helps parents become more present and responsive to their children’s signals, knowing when to offer instruction and when to let go of expectations.
8. Create Community Mindfulness Groups
Organize small groups of local parents or families to engage in mindfulness activities together, making it a shared community endeavor rather than solely a family responsibility.
9. Ensure Rigorous Teacher Training
For mindfulness programs in educational settings, prioritize well-trained teachers who are practitioners themselves, understand the theory, and can teach with the same rigor as other academic subjects.
10. Address Spirituality Concerns
When introducing mindfulness, especially in schools, clearly explain that it is a secular practice focused on innate human capacities and the human mind, not a religious or metaphysical teaching.
11. Maintain Motivation Awareness
If involved in teaching or promoting mindfulness, be conscious of the tension between altruistic desires to share benefits and careerist motivations, striving for balance and authentic practice.
12. Incorporate Play and Active Learning
Make mindfulness enjoyable for children by including active, playful activities like singing, outdoor exploration, and creative projects, alongside quiet, sedentary practices.
13. Validate Children’s Questions
When children express deep insights or questions about their meditative experiences, validate their curiosity and share that these are universal questions, fostering connection and continued exploration.
14. Eliminate Processed Foods
As a first step in addressing health problems, consider removing processed ingredients, sugar, and white flour from your diet.
15. Seek Guided Meditation Tapes
If initial attempts at formal, seated meditation are challenging due to anxiety, explore listening to guided meditation tapes or audio programs.
16. Engage Older Kids with Descriptions
For older children, use activities like rolling balls back and forth while quickly describing what’s going on in their mind and body to enhance self-awareness.
17. Introduce Classical Breathing Practices
Adapt classical meditation practices like counting breaths into simple, fun, and developmentally appropriate activities for children.
5 Key Quotes
I think the lesson is to practice yourself, learn the practice yourself, embody it, then start to try to understand the concepts, uh the universal themes that we're teaching and then find ways that to just drop them into what you're already doing as opposed to bring this in as an outside thing.
Susan Kaiser Greenland
The present moment's always here but it's always disappearing.
Second Grader (quoted by Annaka Harris)
I think it is one of the most important things out there right now facing this country just how we how we work with education with the limited time and other resources including money in the schools.
Susan Kaiser Greenland
I think it's interesting because I might be on the wrong side of that line.
Dan Harris
It may have been described well by the Buddhists but it is nonetheless an innate human capacity, a birthright for homo sapiens.
Dan Harris
2 Protocols
Snow Globe Game for Emotional Regulation
Susan Kaiser Greenland- When feeling upset, grab a snow globe or glitter ball.
- Explain that 'mommy's mind feels like this right now' (referencing the swirling glitter).
- Invite the child to stay and feel their breathing together.
- Watch the glitter settle, co-regulating emotions and modeling how to calm the mind.
Rockabye Game for Breath Awareness
Annaka Harris- Children lie on their backs.
- Place a small stuffed animal (for young children) or a pillow/beanbag (for older children/adults) on their belly.
- Explain that the stuffed animal/pillow is a 'tired monkey' that needs to take a nap.
- Encourage them to notice their in-breath and out-breath as their belly gently rocks the 'monkey' up and down, helping it fall asleep.