Kids Mindfulness & Mental Health

What does it mean to be Mindful?

Mindfulness is about in living in each moment and experiencing it for what it is. Living mindfully means letting go of living your life as if were a race to the finish line. It is no secret that we live in a fast paced, results driven society, however, that does not mean that our sole/soul purpose in life is to look forward to achieving our goals, and always focusing on the end result of our endeavors. On the contrary, living mindfully is just the opposite. It is the practice of being fully engaged in what is happening in your life, and making conscious choices as a result.

What About Children?

The same applies for children. It is my belief that we mistakenly raise our children as though their entire childhood is just preparation for who they will become as adults. Our society educates and conditions children for life as adults, and they grow up identifying who they are, with feelings of success or failure based upon what they are learning at school, their performance, how capable they are of listening, their ability to understand and retain information, how well they sit still, and their behavior and concentration. The older children become, the more the emphasis is placed upon their performance in class and their grades. These grades then become the measure we use to determine the subjects a child will be qualified to study in his higher education, and the type of career he will have as a result. Children’s education is mainly about preparing them for tomorrow, not today. It is because of this simple fact that I would confidently say that the majority of children are not living mindfully.

Can Children Live Mindfully?

Despite the expectations of our society, and the type of educational system our children are immersed in, we can still endeavor to help them to live more mindfully. With simple holistic strategies, such as yoga, meditation & mindfulness practices it is easy to help children to celebrate who they are right now, at this moment, and in the next one, and the next. Children’s feelings about who they are, and how see things can often change from one day to the next. This is normal as they grow, develop, and adapt their personalities to the environment. Children are very versatile people and can change in many different ways as they grow in body and mind, and as they learn to navigate the world, discovering just where they fit in the grand scheme of things. Remember, our children are not cookie-cutter objects, they are diverse and unique individuals who deserve to be acknowledged and accepted for who they really are. Just because they are little doesn’t mean they are any less important!

An easy exercise in mindfulness, and positive self-awareness that I begin all of my children’s yoga and mindfulness classes with, is to have everyone sit in a circle and share something that they really like about themselves with the rest of the group. It is often difficult for children, and even adults, to talk about the things they really like about themselves. However, I believe that this is a really effective way of helping children turn their attention inward in a positive light. It helps them to learn to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate themselves first, as opposed to always looking for outward validation and acceptance from other people.

The Importance Children’s Mental Health & Self Awareness

There is an important connection between children’s mental health and their sense of identity. I truly believe that mental wellness is built upon a strong foundation of authentic self-awareness. If someone spends their life feeling unsure of who they really are, as a result striving to live up to an ideal of which society, or other people expect of them, then I wonder how can they ever feel true sense of purpose, and fulfillment in their life. I believe it is common today for people to be living with a distorted, or inauthentic sense of self-awareness, and that this could be the cause behind some of the many struggles we face with chronic cases of mental illness, anxiety and depression in our society these days.

If we help our children develop a strong sense of self-awareness, with a true sense of identity from a young age then we can set them up to experience a balanced, and more positive state of mental health as they grow up. With a strong sense of self-awareness you can really be attuned with who you are, aware enough that you can identify with what feels off in your life, and empowered enough to know how to redirect situations and circumstances through conscious choice when things feel that they are going off course.

When you feel unsure about who you are in your life, and if do not really know what your desires, urges and pains are, it can become common to look for reasons to justify all the confusion by labeling it. The label then becomes an identifier for the pain, it defines it and gives it reason. This is the easiest route to blaming our mental health for the many ways that we are disconnected from ourselves, our purpose and our sense of fulfillment in life. In a nutshell, although mindfulness and living mindfully may not be answer to all our children’s mental health challenges these, it is the perfect place to start managing them.

Unsure Where to Start?

If you need more information about kids mindfulness, and simple strategies you can use every day at home, or at school if you are a teacher, then please refer to my book, or online program (coming soon!) ‘Five Minutes to Mindfulness—Kids’. It is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide with practical strategies to help parents, or teachers at school nurture their children’s mental and emotional health in today’s hectic and fast-paced society.

For more information about my book visit

For more information about my upcoming online kids yoga and mindfulness training program visit

Thank you for reading my work, and don't forget

Be realistic & daydream often!

Dr. Ashleigh Stewart Msc.D.