For all the negatives we know about Facebook, there are some positives.
I recently heard from someone I went to high school.
She responded to my January 5th post about my daughter teaching yoga to the students in her school after the recent fires here in Boulder, Colorado.
Forty of the students in her school lost their homes, and many others were displaced due to severe smoke damage. Carly, and the other teachers, are doing their best to meet the current needs of all the children after this tremendous tragedy and trauma. In many cases, this means putting the academics aside and tending to their emotional needs.
Stacy Gross reached out to me to offer her Mindfulness eCourse, which she created for elementary schools, to my daughter’s school, for free.
Needless to say, I was touched, and we reconnected. As those of you who follow my work know, I believe that all children (and their parents!) should be learning mindfulness to manage their stress and their ADHD challenges. So, I asked Stacy if she would share a bit about her work and why mindfulness for students is so valuable.
Mindfulness & Meditation for Students
by Stacy Gross
Researchers found that childhood anxiety is at its highest levels, as we navigate these stressful times. When Cre8spacemeditation opened in 2016, its sole purpose was to bring mindfulness and movement to every school district in the country. Never did we think that the circumstances of a world pandemic would make our mission that much more important.
As parents and educators, it is our job to help our children develop tools to help them navigate through these times. Unfortunately, because of remote learning and social distancing, the lack of socialization has increased our children’s stress levels and ability to deal with childhood’s “normal” stress.
It is proven that children who participate in a mindfulness practice are emotionally more grounded and profoundly more present, and able to connect with their emotions. The ability to understand their emotions and, more specifically, label their feelings helps them reduce some of their daily stresses.
So, what does that mean for the ADHD community?
Researchers are now zeroing in on mindfulness and ADHD. After joining a mindfulness program, children and adolescents with ADHD (and their parents) reported decreased stress levels and fewer ADHD symptoms.
Mindfulness has been correlated with improvements similar to those with medication for several aspects of attention and cognition. Traits inherent to ADHD such as impulsiveness and emotional reactivity respond to a mindfulness practice, as do some aspects of executive functioning.
Stress affects how you live, and mindfulness is another key tool to managing your child’s ADHD. Caryn and I, co-founders of Cre8spacemeditation, decided that it was more important than ever to find a way for our students to continue their mindfulness even though we could not be in the schools because of the pandemic. Talk about making lemonade from lemons!
Our virtual interactive experience allows students to participate in a 20-minute experience that includes mindfulness and movement. Each lesson consists of meditation, movement, and fun work, which lets the student apply the theme to which they are being taught. We do many different lessons throughout the program, such as QiGong, Tapping, Meditation, and Breathwork, to name a few.
We all can use some compassion and thoughtfulness during this chaotic time. If we begin to open our minds and hearts to other ways of learning, we KNOW that our children’s lives will be that more enriched. Let’s help our next generation build their toolbox of coping skills so that their future is filled with happiness.
For more information visit their website, www.cre8spacemeditation.com or email Stacy Gross at [email protected]
Best,
Cindy
