Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)

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From the central image of sitting still like a frog to the spaghetti test for physical relaxation, the images, metaphors, and practical exercises are pitched at the right level to really engage children—this book and CD will prove a valuable resource for our family’s spiritual explorations.”— Junomagazine It describes in detail a series of stories and exercises that are simple, short and easy to carry out. They can be put into practice for a few minutes every day, on a regular basis. In addition to this, it comes with a CD, which helps to guide the meditation.

But why is this principle limited to physical, external activities? A child could have learned before the end of the defiance phase to breathe negative emotions away. To be independent of external influences. To allow and reinforce the positive imprints and protect oneself against the negative ones. By learning to not longer be a servant of one's own uncontrolled emotions through the automation of relaxation techniques, meditation and conditioning. To be armed against attempts of indoctrination and manipulation from various private and public sources. And to have a lot in advance to a majority of adults. Unfortunately. Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents) is a short and sweet book. It is written for parents and includes many concrete exercises to help children (and their parents) understand and practice mindfulness to train attention, handle difficult emotions well, reduce nonproductive worry, let go of the unchangeable, and more. Some exercises are on the included hour-long CD read by Myla Kabat-Zinn, while there are often two to four other exercises described in each very short chapter.

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Sitting Still Like a Frogintroduces the basics of mindfulness to children in an easy-to-understand and playful way. It guides children in the cultivation of presence: presence of mind, presence of heart, and presence in the body. This is something we are all capable of but usually don’t cultivate intentionally. Why not start young in training those capacities? The world nowadays is so complex and fast-paced that knowing how to ground oneself in the present moment is an absolute necessity to make sense of the world and to continue learning, growing, and contributing what is uniquely yours to contribute in this world.”—from the foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn Sitting Still Like a Frog introduces the basics of mindfulness to children in an easy-to-understand and playful way. It guides children in the cultivation of presence: presence of mind, presence of heart, and presence in the body. This is something we are all capable of but usually don't cultivate intentionally. Why not start young in training those capacities? The world nowadays is so complex and fast-paced that knowing how to ground oneself in the present moment is an absolute necessity to make sense of the world and to continue learning, growing, and contributing what is uniquely yours to contribute in this world." —from the foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn Sitting Still Like a Frog is a perfect teaching resource for us to learn how to meditate as a family. It’s aimed at children from 5 to 12 years old, and the idea is that they practice meditation and relaxation together with their parents. Sitting Still Like a Frog teaches children mindfulness through an amphibious friend who sits very still. . . . Many practices fill the book and audio CD, and all of them remind us, and our children, just how easily thoughts can move us off our lily pads." — Mindful magazine After the ground-breaking Sitting Still Like a Frog, Breathe through this followed in 2014. The book focuses on the parents of adolescents, but unlike many others it doesn’t claim to offer ready-made parenting tips. On the contrary, it encourages them not to judge themselves or their children. Showing compassion and open heartedness isn’t always easy, and you should pay attention to feelings of stress, anger, and powerlessness rather than ignoring them, squeezing them out, or overreacting. You should give them the same quality of attention you’d give to your best friend!

Reading this book instils confidence, telling you that you’re doing better as a parent than you think, and that your teenager can develop into a person they’re proud of. In a simple and accessible way, Sitting Still Like a Frog describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware.” — Children’s Books DailyAfter seeing Sitting Still Like a Frog recommended by a friend, I thought it was worth a shot. I've dabbled in meditation off and on for a few years and have appreciated the benefits; maybe, I thought, it'd work for my kids, too. Simple mindfulness practices to help your child (ages 5-12) deal with anxiety, improve concentration, and handle difficult emotions—with a 60-minute audio CD of guided exercises read by Myla Kabat-Zinn. The Little Frog is for parents and grandparents of children aged eighteen months to four years, and for professionals working with them in nurseries and childcare and healthcare facilities.

These are the audio excercises to accompany the book Sitting Still Life a Frog by Eline Snel from Shambhala Publications, available here: Being aware means abandoning judgment for a while, leaving aside our immediate objectives for the future and accepting the here and now as it is and not as we would like it to be.” Nur warum ist dieses Prinzip alleine auf körperliche, externe Aktivitäten beschränkt? Ein Kind könnte vor dem Ende der Trotzphase gelernt haben, seine negativen Emotionen zu veratmen. Sich unabhängig von äußeren Einflüssen zu machen. Die positiven Prägungen zuzulassen und zu verstärken und sich gegen die negativen zu schützen. Indem es durch Automatisierung von Entspannungstechniken, Meditation und Konditionierung lernt, nicht der Diener seiner eigenen, unkontrollierten Emotionen zu sein. Gewappnet zu sein gegen Versuche von Indoktrination und Manipulation aus diversen privaten und öffentlichen Quellen. Und damit einer Majorität der Erwachsenen einiges voraus haben. Leider. The book is based on Eline’s many years of Mindfulness experience with children, parents, and teachers, and is full of stories and practical exercises. It also contains eleven meditations for children: the Sleep Tight and Spaghetti Test meditations are favourites with many readers. Eline’s grandchildren like to do the Wishing Tree and the Secret of the Heart Chamber. On top of that, one of my boys has been diagnosed with ADHD, though I wouldn't be surprised if at least one more ended up with the same diagnosis down the road. All three have had trouble falling asleep at one time or another during their lives, sometimes for an extended period of months, with the resulting sleep deprivation affecting their personality, school work, and exacerbating the aforementioned ADHD symptoms. Anxiety also runs in the family and I've seen it take its toll on my kids already - "Mom, my head is never quiet!" one of them told me - so I'm constantly looking for ways to help them draw strength from within themselves, calm their over-active brains, and deal with the world around them.

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It is about teaching children and their parents about mindfulness and meditation through exercises and activities.