An Attitude of Gratitude (How To Teach Mindfulness for Children)

Your attitude of gratitude has great power over the mindfulness of children in your home. We all know the power that kindness and gratitude has on our lives. But you know what we don’t realize?

An Attitude of Gratitude Can Feel Impossible

An attitude of gratitude during the hardest times is when we MOST need to practice gratitude. Right now may be one of those times for you, so here is your challenge, including mindfulness exercises for kids.

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Practice Gratitude When It’s Hardest

It’s easy to practice gratitude and feel grateful when business is booming 💥, the sun is shining 🌞 and we’re out and about 🚶‍♂️🌳 !  But when we’re going through an extensive period of challenge, of lockdown, of quarantine, of fear, anxiety, perhaps sickness, perhaps job loss, etc., then it’s much harder to have an attitude of gratitude (but MUCH more potent and important!)

Mindfulness for Children is Taught at Home

Mindfulness for children can be taught when you lead by example and practice daily gratitude yourself!  So your challenge today is to grab your journal 📔, grab a sheet of paper 📝, and exercise a full-blown gratitude list at dinner time with your kids there, okay?

Explaining mindfulness to children is easy! I want you to simply say, “Hey guys, I want to make a list of ‘all the things we’re most grateful for about this corona experience’.” And here’s what I mean….

Have Gratitude for Life, No Matter the Circumstances

We must have gratitude for life, no matter what. Now, we could easily say, “But Avital, everything is terrible. People are dying, the economy is crashing. You know, it’s scary out there. I’m climbing the walls with my kids.” It’s so easy to sink into cabin fever and fear, anxiety, and depression.

But I want to tell you my own personal story around how I can still practice gratitude even I have lived through extensive terror attacks in my own hometown. (I come from Jerusalem, Israel. I’m from London. A story for another time.)

I used to live there in my teenage years during extensive terror attacks. There were suicide bombers and knife stabbings on the streets where I lived, in the cafes where I hung out t with my friends. And it was such a terrible time and I developed severe PTSD.

But one of the things that I learned through overcoming PTSD and through going through this period of funerals and devastating loss, was that

to build resiliency, inner-strength and adaptability, we actually have to find the meaning in the experience. 

We have to find the lessons in the experience. We have to find what we have possibly gained, how we have learned, how we have grown. And what we’re going to take with us moving forward.

Choosing Daily Gratitude and Practicing Mindfulness (for Children to See)

So during Corona times, how do you choose daily gratitude and practicing mindfulness for children to see and follow suit? If you are seeing this time as a challenge, you get to choose whether you fixate on:

1. how challenging it is to feel full of gratitude, or
2. all of the ways this time is serving you

On all of the ways this is opening your eyes 👀 to the family you most want to be. On all of the ways you might be bouncing forward ➡️ rather than back ⬅️ when this experience changes and morphs into the next iteration.

What Do You Have Gratitude for Today?

You might have gratitude for: 

• the sunshine 🌞
• the food on your plates 🍛
• the clothes on your body 👕
• the shelter over your head 🏡

When we gain a little bit of perspective around everything we have, (rather than everything we’re losing,) we can be grateful for life. For everything that we have that other people wish they had. Or for every way that this experience is actually serving us.

We’re discovering our strengths.

We’re discovering our flexibility.

We’re discovering our powerful mindset.

We’re discovering all the ways in which humanity stands up to help each other.

“How Does Daily Gratitude Actually HELP Me with my Kids Though?”

You might be asking yourself how daily gratitude is going to help you create more play, and create more haven in your home. And the way, is this: 

When we adjust our mindset, when we focus on positivity, on optimism, on resourcefulness, we can show up to our day. 

When we can show up to our day, we can be creators, the curators of our home, the CEOs of our family.

CEOs who are overwhelmed, anxious and depressed cannot show up and lead their teams effectively. You need to lead your team and to do that, you need to practice gratitude.

And that is your challenge today. 

Practice Kindness and Gratitude with your Kids

Bring out the optimism, practice kindness and gratitude for you, your family, and your life! Show us how corona times are actually serving you, or actually bringing out the best in your family!

What are these times teaching you?

Are there any gifts you’ve received that will serve you moving forward?

Maybe there’s so much that you’re taking from this time that you’re even going to take them into the next iteration of your life. 

Share out your gratitude list! 📸 We want to see the things you’re grateful for. Remember to use the hashtag #playpandemic, share it and tag any friends you think could use a little pick me up during these challenging times. 

Demonstrate an Attitude of Gratitude & Teach Mindfulness for Children

You can give the gift of mindfulness for children to carry with them throughout their lives. And for you? Adopting an attitude of gratitude has the power to change your entire life!