Engage in daily meditation by trying to focus on one thing at a time, and then gently restarting when distracted. This exercise has been shown to rewire brain parts related to attention regulation, thereby boosting focus.
Practice mindfulness to feel less owned by your emotions, which enables you to make better decisions and respond wisely instead of reacting blindly to provocations, offering strategic value in various situations.
Use meditation to cultivate self-awareness, which helps you avoid being controlled by your emotions and boosts your ability to be kind to yourself and others. This leads to being healthier, happier, more popular, and more successful.
Regularly ask yourself four fundamental questions: ‘Who am I?’, ‘What do I want?’, ‘How can I serve?’, and ‘What am I grateful for?’ to gain clarity, purpose, and a deeper understanding of yourself.
When feeling stressed and overwhelmed, re-engage with a regular meditation practice, even for just 5-10 minutes daily. This can help you find grounding, process thoughts, prioritize, and let go of stress, leading to more rest and peace.
Instead of forcing children to meditate or telling them they should be mindful, practice mindfulness yourself as a parent. This modeling is more likely to have a longer-lasting positive mental and psychological impact on your child.
Practice meditation to find an inner silence, which provides a grounding in self-knowledge and helps navigate conflicting external messages, especially during formative years when identity is being found.
Be a skeptic and try various meditation techniques, such as breath-focused, mantra-based, or body awareness exercises, to discover what works best for you personally.
Extend mindfulness beyond formal meditation by being aware of your internal dialogue, how you walk, speak, eat, and mindfully listen and interact with others in daily life.
When receiving tough feedback, use mindfulness to incorporate it wisely and avoid lapsing into defensiveness, allowing for more effective personal growth and learning.
Practice basic yoga, especially if you find it hard to sit still, as it is a great way to become more aware of your body, move, and let out energy, which can be particularly beneficial for kids.
Boost motivation by regularly engaging in gratitude exercises and setting positive intentions, which helps in creating a constructive internal dialogue for both kids and adults.
Approach life with curiosity and an open mind, being fascinated by what others do and interacting with different people without judgment. This can make life more joyful and help deflect negativity.
Regularly affirm the mantra: ‘I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience and set the goals I will achieve. And everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for and receive as I have asked.’
When considering what you want in life, focus on asking for non-material things like love, connection, peace, and a sense of purpose, in addition to any material goals.
Adopt a mindset of not taking life too seriously, as this can help you avoid getting offended easily and deflect negativity, contributing to a more joyful and resilient approach to life.
When an opportunity arises, even if you don’t have the immediate answer, commit to finding out and connecting with relevant people to make things happen, rather than dismissing it.
Provide middle schoolers (ages 8-12) with the book ‘Just Breathe’ to empower them to discover and practice meditation and mindfulness techniques independently, without requiring parental assembly.
Introduce children to mindfulness through simple, non-dogmatic exercises like taking mindful walks (e.g., 10 steps noticing feelings), eating meals quietly with family, or practicing gratitude before bed.
When starting meditation, especially for kids or beginners, try using simple words like ‘I am’ or ‘Aham’ silently to yourself as a mantra, as they can be soothing and healing sounds.
If you miss a meditation session or don’t practice regularly, avoid feeling guilty or stressed about it, as the goal is to find a beneficial practice, not to add another source of stress.
For parents looking to introduce meditation to younger children, consider using the book ‘Mindful Games’ by Susan Kaiser Greenland with Annika Harris.