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

Self soothing, self calming practice. High school PE teacher told our class to lie on our backs, eyes closed, knees tented up, place flat hands on abdomen to feel breathing deep into lungs. The idea that through a simple breath practice I could moderate stress, physical emotional intellectual, and change the trajectory of a situation, was new National Geographic: Stress - Portrait of a Killer documentary. I used that simple belly breathing to slow down before speeches, oral exams, public presentations through the years until at Harvard I took a course led by David Eisenberg MD ( Healing & the Mind (Programs 1-5) PBS 5 episode series David Eisenberg MD on Tai Chi, Qi Gong, acupuncture, Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD Chronic Pain Mindfulness Meditation, David Spiegel MD metastatic breast cancer meditation and group therapy, Rachel Remen MD Commonweal Hospice) and learned Mindfulness Meditation ( Dhamma Brothers documentary of 10 day meditation training and 10 year follow up) with Jon-Kabat Zinn and began using that as a tool for slowing down before embarking on a challenging day and then again when preparing for sleep. I read Sitting Still Like a Frog by Eline Snell and listened to the CD. This gentle book is a less imposing introduction to the concept of personal agency in self soothing for adults as well as children. Parental teaching is less intimidating when we have experience with the practice of self calming and are able to communicate that confidence to children. I shared with a PE teacher at our local high school that one simple exercise helped me throughout college, and he immediately said "belly breathing." Mindfulness is the opposite of motoric hyperactivity. Learning to value boring quiet time for thought reflection emptying the mind of worries is an important survival skill. The Soloist biopic of Nathaniel Ayers Julliard trained cellist with schizophrenia demonstrates the healing power of self discipline to combat frontal cortex cognitive disruption, endow us with momentary reconnection with rationality and self control, and restore balance. Solitude, the ability to sit alone with one's own thoughts for 15 minutes in an empty room without distracting talk, electronics, doing or writing, is a survival skill which serves to restore well-being in a hectic moment. Just 3 deep slow belly breaths is enough of a distraction to delay an uncontrolled emotional outburst which could damage self regard, and may result in stigma from observers. Learning to pause and attend to the breath puts us back in control. Human brains function best unitasking, thinking one thing at a time. If we are watching our belly rise, pursing our lips to breathe out slowly, the natural metronome of breath slows us down, achieving natural stillness. Life cannot be all mountains of peak activity. We need valleys of rest to reflect and restore our souls. Mindful solitude can control chronic pain, help connect with what is meaningful and valuable in our lives now, and remind us that we are not alone in our vulnerabilities. We want to avoid the fate of The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Bantam Classics) Leo Tolstoy feeling we wasted precious and irretrievable moments on meaningless gazingus pins like [ASIN:B00X3DC702 Madame Bovary] Mia Wasikowska, Your Money Or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money And Achieving Financial Independence 1992 hardback or 1993 paperback only, later editions written by different author, anger The Karate Kid (Special Edition) Ralph Macchio Pat Morita and existential loneliness vs self nurturance, Departures Oscar Best Foreign Film English subtitles abandoned age 6, tries to please absent father, fails at life career, spouse leaves, mentored by new employer and bath house owner, learns self agency, forgiveness without apology, grows self up, The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does Sonja Lyubomirsky. Self agency in problem solving comes with practice in coping with events out of our control, like parental mental illness, conflict or divorce, chemotherapy radiation and surgery, bullying, cognitive disability and discovering that we can survive, figure out a way to deal with adversity and move on. The younger we are when we develop confidence in our self soothing skills, the more durable our resilience as teens and adults [ASIN:076364367X The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane] Kate DiCamillo, Dhamma Brothers documentary of 10 day meditation training and years later follow up of learning self soothing for the first time in adulthood. 5* gentle boring introduction to meditation for grown ups and children alike. Be well.

This is my first review for a product I have purchased on Amazon. I feel so strongly about it that I felt the need to write and encourage other parents to try it. We have been using this CD daily for over 3 months. It has created an almost miraculous change in helping my severely anxious child learn to calm himself down. This book has literally changed my child's life. I feel like a proselytizer when I tell people about it, but I feel strongly enough about it that I don't even care. ;) I have a young elementary-aged child with anxiety so extreme that in the past, it was interfering with him falling asleep at night. We would do the whole bedtime-routine, I would turn out the light and leave the room and then he would spend up to 3 hours walking in circles in his bedroom until he fell over from exhaustion. He simply did not know to "turn off his brain" so that he could sleep. We tried many different things to help him calm down: hot baths, massages, reading books until he fell asleep, etc. None of them really worked. Recently his therapist recommended that we try some "mindfulness" training. I had the vague idea that mindfulness meant focusing on gratitude, taking some deep breaths, etc., but I had no idea how to teach that skill to a child. I started looking on Amazon for books on mindfulness and stumbled upon this Book/CD set. I ordered it, along with some of the Indigo Dreams CDs and crossed my fingers that something might help. When the book and CD arrived, I skimmed the book and was totally unimpressed. I didn't even bother to finish reading it, because it came across as dry and boring. But the CD...that's another thing. The CD has 11 meditations on it that cover a variety of situations, from general anxiety to sadness to not being able to fall asleep. And they are amazing. They tap into a kid's deepest thoughts and insecurities and needs in ways that kids can't even verbalize. They are...magic. For the past three months, my kid has been falling asleep on average within 10 minutes of turning on the CD player. There was ONE night that meditation didn't work, and that was because he was too worked up to use it. The CD starts with a 9 minute introduction that teaches kids how to meditate. (They don't realize that's what is happening. They think they are just learning to "sit like a frog.") After listening to that several times, my child had a very clear idea of how the meditative process worked and how it made him feel. He wanted more, because the feeling was so good. Over several days, we worked our way through all the meditations. Now he cues up the tracks he thinks he needs based upon what he is feeling. "The Conveyor Belt of Worries," "Sitting Like a Frog," "The Secret of the Heart Chamber," and "Sleep Tight" are our favorites. We listen to at least one every day. And the cumulative affect has been much greater than just helping with bedtime. It has helped my child to be calmer all throughout the day. In researching the affects of meditation on the brain, I discovered that there are studies showing through the use of MRIs that mediation can actually shrink the fear-portion of your brain and strengthen the higher-reasoning portions. This affect is cumulative; the more you meditate, the greater and longer-lasting the benefit. I have recommended this CD to anyone and everyone I know who has small children. The life lesson of learning to be calm and recognize that "thoughts are just thoughts and they don't KNOW everything" sends an incredibly powerful message that I think benefits all children. I even gave our copy to my child's teacher so she could use it in the classroom, because she said that all the kids are struggling to maintain calm as we get toward the end of the year. Now I'll be purchasing a new copy for home, because we can't be without it. :)

Love this and have used it effectively not only with very young kids in a group setting but with a slightly older (9) kid than this seems to be geared toward. This is definitely one of the best resources for introducing young kids to the concept as well as the specifics of meditative practice and the idea of being in control of calming your own mind.The length and language are just right, and easy for most kids to get through. Allowing the kid to fidget and not quite do this perfectly, while you do it along with him/her and remain unconcerned that they are fidgeting (or talking) seems to work best: non-judgmental but consistent in modeling calm engagement with the exercise. I'll then ask what difficulties they were having so we can work out some suggestions. This is, after all, called 'practice' :). My only wish is that there were more meditations geared towards common specific issues kids deal with (there are some and they're very good).

This book/CD set was recommended by a psychologist we saw for our son's anxieties and worries and to promote good sleep. It is very kid friendly and the voice used on the CD is very soothing to listen too. I like the basic lessons associated with relaxation and think it would be great to do on a nightly basis. Our whole family can listen to it together and each lesson only takes a few minutes. We all feel relaxed afterwards and have fun talking about our feelings and thoughts. Our son seemed more relaxed and slept better after doing these exercises. He even asked if we could "sit like a frog" on occasional evenings. Great book! Update: Two years later and our children (now 10 and 8) are still BEGGING to "sit like a frog" every night. It's actually hard to get them to stop listening to it! It gives us an opportunity to sit quietly and then talk about how we feel afterwards, if we choose. Sometimes it's just the opportunity to sit quietly and say nothing at all, which is definitely not the norm in our family! It's been a really positive tool in our household and an empowering gift for our children. I love how the different meditations are named so that the kids can choose which one to do based on how they're feeling ("Handling Difficult Feelings" or "Weathering the Storm Inside.") I particularly like how she teaches children to create their physical and internal "happy place"...designing a place in their room or home they can go to be alone...and how to escape in their minds to a beautiful, magical place they've created in their minds full of people, places, and things they love. Her voice is the best of any guided meditations I've listened to, and I've listened to many. I hope the author puts many more of these books/CDs out - I feel they're highly beneficial. In reference to the "stupid" comment that some reviewers have mentioned...I understand mothers' and fathers' concerns and wishes for their children to not use this word when referring to themselves or anyone else. We feel the same. However, I'm a "real" person and feel that even though we "teach" our kids not to use this term, it doesn't stop them from internally thinking it about themselves. Believe me - I've worked in a school system for 20 years and know all too well how students "feel" about themselves from time to time, especially given the growing expectations and intensity within our current school systems. She uses the word to assure the child that anything they feel, think, or believe is not "stupid" - that it's "normal" because everyone feels these things from time to time. My kids didn't question it at all but did discuss that they particularly liked this part because sometimes they do feel this way and the meditation helps them feel differently. I hope you'll give this a chance! I can't recommend this enough! We absolutely love it!

This is an awesome resource for introducing your kids to mindfulness practices. I have been doing yoga and mindfulness exercises for the last 3-4 years, but wasn't really sure how to introduce it to my children. The book gives a lot of helpful suggestions (especially to NOT use mindfulness exercises as a disciplinary measure or when kids are agitated). The CD that comes with this book is perfect for my 5 and 8 year old and allows our whole family to do a 5-10 minute mindfulness exercise together that both children and adults can benefit from. My five year old asks nearly every day "Mom, can we do froggy?" She really seems to understand that it helps her calm down and feel relaxed. We even do some of the exercises on our own now (me just mimicking the guided exercises from the CD when we go to bed or dot have the CD handy). Highly recommend!

Very in depth coverage of understanding how do deal with life's challenges through mindfulness techniques. Could be very helpful for school psychologists, parents, or teachers. It shares effective strategies that help you sort out what is going on in your life. Definitely meant more for partner use, (Parent-Child, Licensed Professional with child, or Teacher and child). It uses in depth details to be mindful, sit still, and act as an observer of your environment to make sense of your reality. On page 50 is a great simple tool using laughter, and mindful walking to really appreciate body senses and the awareness of what is taking place as your whole body is moving.

I've bought a few books like these to help my children. In all other cases the books themselves were short and used simple language that could engage children. I typically read the book out loud to my kids. I thought this book would be in the same category, it says "Mindfulness Exercises for Kids <and Their Parents>." Well, that's not the case. The book appears to be written strictly for an adult audience. I find that quite disappointing. At least the exercises on the CD are helpful and are perfect for kids (my youngest is 5 and she gets it). But I was hoping to read from the book to my kids for more depth than just the exercises on the CD. The book will be helpful to me, and maybe then once I understand I can teach my kids. But I wanted to learn together with them. If this were more clearly stated on the cover of the book and description I would have known what to expect and rated it accordingly. But in all honesty I wouldn't have bought it then.

I love this book.. it is approachable and easy to understand for mindfulness beginners (parents and children alike), but has substance and depth, as well. I ripped the accompanying CD, so I can use it wherever I go, but it has become a part of our nighttime routine with my children. I can't say enough positive things about this book and CD... we've had success using it with children with anxiety disorders at work, and I think it would be great for children with ADHD, as well. Prior to reading this book, I read and liked "Planting Seeds", but found it somewhat less approachable... Sitting Still Like a Frog flows more easily, and is an easy recommendation for me to give to parents and professionals alike.

Using the book both home and at the school I teach.

Great book, great advice and it really helped my daughter falling asleep much better after a couple times using the CD, plus I enjoy doing it with her :-)

Me gusta como explica su visión del mindfulness. I love it. Es sencillo, un manual básico de referencia.

This is a great book to help kids learn about mindfulness. Helps with relieving stress and anxiety even in very young children.

Esta muy interesante