I am admittedly a very anxious person. I don't focus and relax as much as I should so I knew I needed to do a little research. To prepare for the day, I watched YouTube videos and read articles about mindfulness and meditation for children. I found some great resources. One video stood out to me in particular, a Tedx talk, Bite-Sized Mindfulness. I made me sit back and think about how busy the world must be for Jude's ever growing brain. It also made me realize that I don't spend enough time just letting Jude be.
Most of the resources focused on children that were old enough to at least answer questions or follow directions. Jude has not mastered either of those things, so I had to pave my own way. Here's what I did.
1. I sat Jude on my lap
2. I turned on ocean sounds
3. I let out a long shhhhhhh and held him tight.
4. I talked to him a very calm but rhythmic cadence inviting him to imagine milk, hugs, and car ride (a few of his favorite things). I describe them in detail quietly.
5. Set him on the ground and let him go do his thing.
I obviously cannot ask him if this made him feel calmer, but to me he seemed a little more zen. I am going to start adding this into our daily schedule to get used to bite-sized mindfulness until he is able to do more formal meditation.
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