Doesn’t have to look like this! Hee hee
“May you live all the days of your life.” – Jonathan Swift
In celebration of Canadian Mental Health Week, here are 5 mindfulness tips to nurture calm & connection in the midst of our hectic family lives.
- Spending some time each day with our children single-tasking. When eating, just eat. When walking, just walk, when hugging, just hug. Feels good & strengthens our ability to focus.
- Observing and naming big emotions when they come to visit – both for ourselves and our children; when we name our big emotions, we can tame them.
- Reflecting on a pleasant moment from the day and sharing it with each other – noticing the good helps to hardwire happiness and counter the brain’s negativity bias.
- Showing ourselves care – with a hug, a kind message, and understanding when we’re having a hard time. What a gift for our children to see us as parents being kind to ourselves.
- Remembering to breathe; deep breaths can bring calm & relaxation to the body. – And this can be fun too! balloons, bubbles, pinwheels, oh yeah!
Sara Marlowe 