Add these to your coping toolbox
In recent years, mindfulness has gained popularity across various settings, from schools to workplaces. It is not just a trend; scientific research supports its effectiveness in reducing stress, depression and aggression while also fostering emotional regulation and awareness. Research has found positive impacts of mindfulness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Understanding Mindfulness and the Benefits
Children with ASD can face challenges in communication, social-emotional skills and anxiety. Studies have shown that people with ASD may lack empathy toward others due to difficulties understanding, interpreting or showing empathy.
Practicing mindfulness can help children enhance their focus and attention. Potentially improving understanding of context and the “big picture,” which is a struggle for children with ASD and weak central coherence. Mindfulness activities can help focus between internal and external experiences.
For children with ASD, developing mindfulness skills can lead to improved behavioral and cognitive responses, self-awareness and understanding of others. Mindfulness is about focusing on the present moment without judgment. Allowing children to observe their thoughts, feelings, sounds and sensations as they arise, fosters greater awareness.
Mindfulness Activities for Children
- Sound Meditation: Focus your mind. — Use a chime or singing bowl to guide attention to the present. Allow your child to play and listen to the instrument’s tone, then focus on the sounds around them, gradually moving from distant to nearby sounds. Listen to the tone as it goes silent, then move to their own breath, ending with three deep breaths.
- Guided Relaxation: Connect with your body. — Body scans can help children learn to relax and connect with their bodies. Giving them a sense of their bodies gives them a place to go ground in. Guide them to lie down or sit comfortably, focusing on each body part from feet to head. Notice any sensations without judgment. Allow a few moments to rest, and breathe into the body.
- Conscious Breathing: Focus on your breath. — Use feathers or bubbles to visualize breath. Children can see how their breath moves these objects, promoting breath awareness and relaxation while developing fine motor skills. Pay attention to the sensations of breath as it enters and exits the body. What happens if they breathe longer or slower?
- Mindful Walking: Enhance proprioception and reduce anxiety. — Focusing on the sensations of your feet on different surfaces can help make a connection between the body and the environment. Play “I Spy” on your walk, before every guess slow down, take a deep breath and take in the environment around you. Encourage your child to notice sounds and smells around them. You can also use sensory focus instead of colors or shapes as descriptions, “I spy in my little eye something wet and smooth.”
- The Glitter Jar: Calm the Mind. — Create a glitter jar to illustrate how thoughts and feelings can swirl and cloud our minds. Children can shake the jar to simulate emotional upheaval and watch the glitter settle as a metaphor for the calming mind. It is a nice prop when they need a reminder of what state they could head to.
- Eye Palming: Relax your eyes. — Teach eye palming to reduce visual fatigue and promote relaxation. Children can cover their eyes with warm palms while breathing deeply and massaging their eye socks, allowing their optic nerves to relax. This feels great and is best done for a few minutes.
- Affirmations and Power Poses: Build confidence. — Introduce daily positive affirmations and power poses to build confidence. Encourage children to adopt confident postures while repeating affirmations, helping to shift their mindset. Studies have shown that power poses can be used during times when you need to “fake it until you make it.” These poses can summon your energy, making it easier to transition into an uncomfortable situation.
Mindfulness activities can be a sensory break throughout the day to help children manage overwhelming sensory input, and reset and recharge. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to decrease stress and emotional reactivity in children with ASD, and the bonus effect is that whomever assists with the mindfulness activities will also benefit from the practice, enhancing their overall well-being. May these simple activities foster a sense of calm and connection with you and your loved ones.
Anthony Cupo is a trained mindfulness facilitator (TMF) from the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He is a co-owner of Stepping Forward Counseling Center, LLC, and has been meditating for over 30 years.
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