THE MINDFUL EXPERIENCE

Mindfulness Practices For Children and Adolescents

MINDFULNESS:

The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the

unfolding of experiences moment by moment.”Jon Kabat-Zinn

4 predominant mindfulness-based approaches:- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Baer, R. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention:A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 125-143.

MINDFULNESS RESEARCH MONTHLY

www.mindfulexperience.org

Burke, C. (2010). Mindfulness-based approaches with childrenand adolescents: A preliminary review of current research in an emergent field. J Child Fam Stud (2010) 19:133-144.

Biegel, Gina M.; Brown, Kirk Warren; Shapiro, Shauna L.; Schubert, Christine M. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for the treatment of adolescent psychiatric outpatients: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol 77(5), Oct 2009, 855-866.

Saltzman, A., and Goldin, P., (2008). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for School-Age Children in Greco, L.A., & Hayes, S.C. (Eds) Acceptance & Mindfulness Treatments for Children & Adolescents: A Practitioner’s Guide. (pp 139- 161). CA: New Harbinger.

Huppert, Felicia A., Johnson, Daniel M. A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools; the importance of practice for an impact on well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2010; 5 (4): 264-274.

THE MINDFULNESS TOOLBOX

The focus of my attention

My breath

Longer out-breath, calmer feeling

All my feelings are okay

My breath as an anchor

Noticing if my thoughts are helpful or unhelpful

Letting go of unhelpful thoughts

Thankfulness

LETTER TO A FRIEND:

Write a brief letter to a friend who knows nothing about Mindfulness describing:

1. What Mindfulness means to you2. How you have used Mindfulness in your daily life3. How it feels to be Mindful

“I think that mindfulness is very important. I believe that mindfull means to be in the present moment. I have used mindfulness in my life before tests or big events. I take 3 big breaths and all my worries seem to leave me. I think that mindfulness seems to make me a lot calmer.”

“I have learned that it’s okay to make your own choices and not copy other people. And that taking 3 deep breaths can be useful in a lot of ways like when you are sad, nervous and unkind. You can calm down when you are angry by taking 3 deep breaths. I have also learned that if you get yourself into a habit it’s like falling into a hole. And you can get out of that hole by choosing not to do it. Mindfulness helps you to choose not to do it.”

“I have learned that all feelings are okay. And you can ask your feelings what they need from you. Sometimes you have a voice on one shoulder. That is the Heckler. Never listen to him. Listen to your Cheerleader.”

“Mindfullness has been really good for me because my parents divorced and fight allot and I can get really streased by it because I get stuck in the middle of it. Now I feel really happy and work through things differently.”

“When I’m thinking unhelpful thoughts I choose to let them go. In class when I’m day dreaming I choose to focus on whoevers speeking. When I’m about to do something that I know I shouldn’t I catch myself.”

“I have been doing this program called mindfullness and what it means to me is something speacil like a spark or something. In mindfulness is wear you get to relax and I have been using this at bedtime doing pebbel breathing. It feels very speacil to me to be mindful.”

www.mindfulnessnow.com.au