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Did you know that there is a literal connection between the heart and the mind? This connection is through a large cranial nerve called the vagus nerve. When a child is born, this nerve that regulates homeostasis between the heart, lungs, and abdomen is immature. Instead, babies rely on primitive brain-stem circuits to regulate their bodies.
Think about the enormity of that... when your baby is placed in your arms, the connection between their heart and mind isn't fully formed.
What an amazing task we have before us as parents.
It turns out that one of the ways we can directly stimulate the vagus nerve is through yoga and breathing exercises. When the vagus nerve tells the heart all is well -- the body is relaxes into the rest, digest, and destress state. When the vagus nerve is "turned on" it releases its hold on the heart, so your heart rate picks up and you can be prepared to fight, flee, or freeze.
Introducing mindful breathing practices, sensory play, and yoga into your child's day will help them strengthen their heart-mind connection and build the skills they will need to be able to handle what life throws their way.
This workbook includes an introduction to mindful self-energy, mindful breathing, mindful play, and mindful movement.
Contents:
- A guide on the 8Cs of Self-Energy. Deeper than self-esteem or self-confidence, understanding self-energy strengthens your child's core self-knowledge.
- 8Cs Self-Energy poster to print and hang in your calm-down space
- 8 getting-to-know your self-energy exercises
- Self-energy coloring page
- 3 Guided Mindful Breathing Exercises to print and hang in your calm-down space.
- Rainbow Breathing
- Cloud Breathing
- Finger Breaths
- A guide to Mindful & Sensory Play to help kids re-center and enter a state of flow.
- Sensory Scavenger Hunt
- 52 Simple Sensory Activities
- Play Dough Recipe
- The fill your Family Cup activity to generate mindful awareness of how to be kind to yourself and to others
- Guide to Mindful Movement through yoga to help children re-set and re-center throughout their day.
- 3 Yoga Sequence Posters: Rejuvenation and Balance, Before Bed Yoga, & Yoga for Big Emotions
- 12 Yoga PoseCards with detailed instructions for the moves to cut and laminate (link to purchase self-laminating sheets).
“Yoga provides us with a set of tools for creating space between the input of life experiences and the output of our reactions. In that space, we can pay attention. We can notice what we are feeling, think for a moment, and make decisions. Once we can learn to find that space, we can use it to take control of our own lives.” - Jennifer Cohen Harper
To purchase a licensed copy of this workbook for use in your therapy or counseling setting, please see this product: Licensed Yoga and Mindfulness Toolkit for Kids
Read more about mindfulness and kids:
11 Ways to Help Kids Re-Center: Strengthen Your Child’s Sense of Self, Fix Bad Moods, and Reduce Anxiety
Mindful and Sensory Activities To Help Children Break Free of Worry or Upset
