The thought train12/16/2023 ![]() When the train (thought) hangs out at the station for a while or remains in our mind, they may start to feel different emotions. Explain that when the train (thought) arrives, sometimes it just passes by and sometimes it stops for a while. Now, have your child visualize the train (thought) coming into the station.Ģ. To practice, ask your child to think about a recurring anxious thought. Teach your child that thoughts are like trains that come and go through a busy station they can simply stand on platform and watch the trains go by. Try the GoZen! Train of Thoughts exercise:ġ. In other words, use language that makes sense and make it fun! It’s our responsibility to tap into this self-awareness and leverage kids’ love of creativity to make lessons relevant. Teaching kids to disentangle themselves from their own cognition seems a bit complex, but let’s not underestimate our kids-they are extraordinarily sophisticated and self-aware. How do you practice observing your own thoughts? Research shows that children enjoy learning mindfulness skills in one study, 74% of kids said they would continue to practice mindfulness after their training was over.Research shows that mindfulness improves children’s ability to bounce back from challenges.Research shows that teaching children mindfulness skills leads to greater well-being and less stress.In this, it’s easier to see that thoughts are transient children also learn they have a choice as to whether to act upon their thoughts.Ī substantial body of research shows that mindfulness practices have incredible benefits for children. With this in mind, the goal for our children is to learn to observe their thoughts as something separate from themselves. At the heart of this practice is the idea that you are not your thoughts. According to a pioneer in the field, Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is a mental practice of remaining present in the moment in a nonjudgmental way. Cognition about our own cognition (or thinking about thinking) was labeled metacognition.Īs metacognitive beings, we have the capacity to disentangle ourselves from our own thinking with the use of mindfulness meditation. In the late 1970s, developmental psychologist John Flavell gave a name to the idea that humans are aware of their own ability to think. The first step in this process is the focus of today’s mindful minute exercise on thought observation. So, what if we could teach our kids to take some of that power back? What if we could teach them to pick and choose which thoughts they “listen” or react to? We can. “No one likes me.” → Sadness and embarrassment → Skipping schoolĪnxious thoughts can also become habitual and tip kids into a downward spiral of negativity. Here’s this point illustrated another way: Why? Because thoughts influence feelings and behaviors.Ī simple thought passing through a child’s mind can cause them to feel scared, worried, or sad it can cause them to sulk, withdraw, or act out. ![]() Research shows us that anxious thoughts are often blown out of proportion, skewed, or just plain wrong. “What if I don’t get asked to the dance? I’ll be humiliated for life.” ![]() “I’m totally screwing up this speech right now, and everyone knows it.” “I’m going to fail math and never get into college.”
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