After a long, fun, tiring holiday weekend I was kind of pumped for Monday. I know, eye-roll, but it’s such a great day for fresh starts. You’ve made it through the weekend with relaxed screen time rules, later nights, more junk food and checking out from work and responsibilities. All of those things make me fired up as a parent on Mondays to try a new focus at home in the attempt at living a better, healthier, more peaceful life. So I’m going with it! Because honestly, who the heck knows where my motivation will be by Friday. I am starting “Mindful Mondays” at my house. Like “Meatless Mondays” but for the soul. It’s an easy way to start introducing mindfulness into your home. What is mindfulness really? Mindfulness is detaching from whatever craziness the outside world is begging your attention for and going within your mind and focusing on your calm inner self. Sounds dreamy already huh? Practicing mindfulness has shown to reduce anxiety in kids and adults. In kids with ADHD mindfulness can help with hyperactivity and reduce impulsiveness. Let’s all just SLOW down for FIVE minutes and ultimately feel better. Here are 3 activities you can do with your kids on this Mindful Monday. Pick one and do it today! 1. Take a mindful walk. Set out on your walk together with the intention of only paying attention to what you see or hear. Instead of giving in to our mind’s endless stream of thoughts and issues, we are forced to be present in the moment. It helps me as a parent chill out and stop asking my kids dozens of questions that exhaust them. Instead, take in the beauty and little details of your surroundings and be here now, together. (this is probably my personal favorite mindful activity) 2. Have a mindful dinner. You can have a mindful first few minutes where there is no talking, only paying attention to your food. The tastes and textures. Let everyone know if their mind starts traveling to bring it back to what they’re eating. Talk about it after with everyone sharing one thing they noticed. Hey, it’s bonus quiet time if nothing else. 3. Silent time. Set aside a time every Monday that is 100% silent. Even just 5-10 minutes. No talking, no electronics, nothing. You can use sign language if you need it! You’d be surprised how loud silence can be. This set silent time can really help everyone slow down and go inside their own minds. We are all craving this freedom from input and output and as parents we have to set these practices in motion. I like to challenge my kids with “it’s only 5 minutes”, hard to say no to that! If they don't know what to do with themselves it's a great time to practice meditation or a tool like Box Breathing and uber relax! *** Source: Next In Mind