You, dear parent, dear teacher… are a Gardener As I am working with kids in one of the many Garden Offices we have, this is one of my most powerful mantras: I am a gardener, I plant seeds, I am not in charge of when they grow. It keeps me in “seed planting mode” rather …
This is a quick guided imagery activity you can read to your child to help her engage her imagination in helping her relax. Frosty’s Happy Paintbrush Find a comfortable position. Talk to your body and give it permission to relax. Take a breath in, feeling your tummy push out. Let the breath out, feeling your …
When my daughters and I traveled to the Northern coast of Scotland last summer, we visited the enchanting village of Findhorn. Findhorn is an Ecovillage that became famous in the 1970’s when founders, Eileen and Peter Caddy with Dorothy McClean, parked their RV in the dunes and began to transform piles of sand into thriving …
“The most precious gift you can give to the one you love is your true presence.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh When you are mindful of your breathing, you are building a bridge between your mind and body. And, as Thich Nhat Hanh notes in his book, True Love, it only takes 10-20 seconds to accomplish this …
Thoughts are Things The way we think has the power to determine how we feel and how we experience the world around us. Have you heard the saying, “Thoughts are things?” Teaching our kids how to observe and shift their thoughts is a powerful tool, one that benefits us to practice along with them. What …
All Tied Up in Knots: Releasing the Worries When our brains get all tied up in knots with worry, they can look like this rubber band ball. In small group today we talked about how it’s sometimes impossible to think straight when there are all sorts of worries going on in our heads and tension …
I believe that each of us is born with an inherent natural sense of imagination and a propensity for wonder. Every child, in their purest essence is a priest of priestess, an alchemist of imagination. And to the extent that we, as parents, caregivers, educators or therapists can be a support to nurture and nourish …
Writing can be a relaxation tool that can be accessed anywhere and everywhere! Use it to feel better when there are thoughts swimming around inside. Model for your child how journaling can relieve stressful thoughts or feelings that want to be released. Show your child how the thoughts can be freed from inside the mind, …
Welcome guest blogger, Rigby Buckner! It is my absolute delight to introduce to you a new guest blogger at Kids Relaxation! Rigby is a graduate student enrolled in the University of Denver’s Child, Family, and School Psychology Program. She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology with a concentration in Elementary Education from Saint Michael’s College in …
We always hear “heart of gold” being used to describe someone’s loving and generous presence. Today in my girls’ group, we talked about how to take care of our own hearts, which are our inner gold. I explained to the fifth grade girls that what’s really really special about each one of us comes from …
