Promoting a child’s emotional health can for parents feel challenging at times however with small steps from an early age you can discover the real benefits of this. Whilst promoting your child or children’s emotional health needs has been shown as beneficial, it does not mean that if they do have a difficulty that this will disappear immediately. In addition, if your child does not have any difficulties with their emotional health, both the above and below can be beneficial.
Meditation and mindfulness: Mindfulness for individuals is important and many have experienced the positive impacts and benefits of practising it on a daily or when not possible regular basis. Whilst life keeps us busy and we are always ‘on the go’, we rarely have time for a few minutes of quietness in one day. By the time you know it, a whole week has gone past and you have not even had a few minutes to yourself. So, what are the ideas of how to promote this in young children?
Do it with them! Practising mindfulness for children can be as quick and easy as having a 60 second morning or bedtime stretch, a short breathing exercise or exercises such as listening to what they can hear for one minute. Helping your child understand their feelings physically is helpful for them mentally and they will have a greater understanding of themselves.
Health and Exercise: The types of food that children intake on a daily basis can surprisingly for some, impact on children’s emotional health, hence the reason why it is advised that children have a healthy, balanced diet.
There also needs to be focus on exercise and physical movement for children including regular exercise, walks, jogs and yoga. Exercise is known to support emotional health and Herrick and Redman-White (2018) states that when physical health is poor it is difficult to maintain emotional health and that exercise offers protective benefits to mental health. When done on a daily basis as per government guidelines, your child is likely to see the current and future benefits.
What else?:
- Keep them busy
- Have a consistent routine
- Fresh air is a must
- Have a safe and clean environment