Breathing is the most natural and innate reaction in humans. We breathe heavily when we are scared or active, deeply when we are calm or asleep, and lightly but consistently when we are doing something. Humans cannot survive without breathing, but since it is very common for us, we often take each one for granted.
Mindfulness is a practice that makes us savor every moment and every breath, teaching all to accept the bad and celebrate the good in the same, grateful manner. And breathing exercises are the easiest way to introduce kids to mindfulness. As you guide and teach them about mindfulness, breathing exercises will make it easier for kids to focus on your words and improve their attention span. It will also help keep all the stress of a modern, hectic lifestyle at bay.
The main benefits of trying breathing exercises are that they improve blood and oxygen supply to various parts of the body, along with the development of your kid’s frontal and prefrontal cortex of the brain. This helps kids make better decisions, not succumb to impulses, and enjoy life in the present. Here’s a quick guide to breathing exercises that develop mindfulness in kids.
Belly breathing is a lovely way of inducing mindfulness and awareness in kids while making sure all distractions stay away. To do this, ask your kids to lie back on the ground, close their eyes, and place their palms on their belly. Ask them to keep their mouths closed and breathe in through their nose to the count of 8. Ask them to hold it in for 2 counts before releasing it through their nose to the count of 5.
Breathe and bond is a wonderful way to engage in mindfulness and breathing exercises with a partner. To do this, make your kid choose a family member or sibling as a buddy and lie next to each other on the ground. Let their buddy rest their head on their belly or hold their hand. Ask your child to take slow, deep breaths and pay attention to the movement of their buddy’s head or hand. Make them switch positions for the next set.
This is a fun breathing exercise that most kids adore for its mythical context. To do this, ask your kid to sit or kneel with their eyes and mouth closed. Ensure their back is straight, the chest is in proper posture, and the head is held high. Ask them to breathe in slowly to the count of 8 through their nose before holding it in for 2 counts. As they let go of the air through their mouth to the count of 5, ask them to visualize and stick out their tongue comfortably, just as a dragon would while releasing flames.
This is a wonderful mindfulness breathing exercise for improving focus and enhancing attention in kids. To do this, ask your kids to sit in the lotus pose in front of a lit candle. Ask them to visualize a flower in their mind and breathe in its scent deeply through their nose. Ask them to hold it in for 2 counts before releasing it nasally again. But the candle should not blow out. This is the practice of maintaining equilibrium between breathing in and breathing out mindfully. Initially, start with a candle and later ask them to visualize it when they consistently practice it.
A wonderful visualization breathing exercise that helps kids move a few muscles and have fun, volcano breath is easy to do with kids of all ages. To do this, ask them to sit tall or stand and place their palms together over their heart in the starting position. As they breathe in, ask them to raise their hands and clasp them together till they reach over their head. Then, ask them to breathe it out while letting their hands separate and move down to their sides, just like lava erupting from a volcano and flowing down its sides.
Shoulder roll breath is a wonderful breathing exercise for loosening tense shoulder muscles and boosting mindfulness in children. To do this, ask your kid to sit comfortably. As they take a deep breath in through their nose, guide them to lift their shoulders up towards their ears. As they exhale, ask them to roll down their shoulders.
Various other kinds of breathing exercises are available, like rainbow breathing and bunny breaths, which are wonderful for kids. But these listed breathing exercises cater to the diverse needs of kids of all ages. Mindfulness is an awareness that is instigated by these breathing exercises, not created by them, as it pre-exists in every human adult and kid. All you need to do is activate that awareness and appreciation in them again with the help of the above-mentioned breathing exercises.