As I mentioned during the Q & A section of the webinar, one of the best ways to introduce mindfulness practices with younger children is for the parent or caregiver to start by developing their own practice and utilization of mindful awareness in their lives. As parents, we teach best by modeling the behavior we hope for. In addition as the parent slows down and gets more familiar with present centered awareness they may naturally find opportunities to invite their child into a similar place by calling attention to sensory experiences like the feel of the sun on your face or a cool breeze….any invitation to bring attention to the senses is a wonderful way to demonstrate to children that this ‘form of intelligence’–awareness–is just as valuable as ‘book learning’. So mindful awareness can be shared with children of any age really as long as it is adapted in a way that meets them where they are at developmentally. The book “The Mindful Child” by Susan kaiser Greenland is a great place to start to explore this question further.

Quote on one of the slides, something like – long as we are breathing there’s more right than wrong – so in mindfulness what part does a positive attitude play and how does that fit with someone who is depressed?
I believe that in general, our everyday mind has a strong inclination towards noticing what is different or wrong with our surroundings- a biological leftover from times when our day to day survival was more precarious. So things that are working or stay the same tend to go unnoticed. Yet much of the beauty of the natural world around us is fairly consistent–like the blue sky, the wind or flowers and trees—so we often tune them out and forget to savor these things. And instead, we can become incredibly absorbed and preoccupied with our private dramas, judgments, and self-criticisms etc. The practice of Bare Attention returns us to a more engaged relationship with what is out there and can perhaps facilitate a more positive outlook. Thich Nhat Hahn, a wonderful teacher of mindfulness says it this way… “we can learn to appreciate our non-toothache”
The research associated with Mindfulness practices and depression has demonstrated the participation in the Mindfulness-based stress reduction curriculum can have a significantly positive impact on preventing relapse for those with a history of major depression. Yet for someone in the midst of a depressive episode it can be very challenging to get enough ‘distance’ from the negative thoughts to observe them mindfully. As always, it is best to work closely with a mental health professional to determine what is the most appropriate course of action to take when trying to overcome depression.