Ebook: Growing up mindful: essential practices to help children, teens, and families find balance, calm, and resilience

The American Psychological Association's 2014 survey on stress made an alarming discovery: America's teens are now the most stressed-out age group in the country. Growing Up Mindful shows parents and professionals alike how to model and teach the skills of mindfulness that will empower our youth for the rest of their lives with greater self-awareness, resiliency, and confidence. While many adults now understand how mindfulness practice helps us alleviate the stress and anxiety of our busy modern lives, getting a typical teenager on board is another story. Dr. Christopher Willard draws on his work with hundreds of young children, tweens, and teens?along with countless hours training parents, teachers, and other counselors?to make the principles and practices of mindfulness accessible, entertaining, and cool for people of all ages and interests. Features dozens of exercises to incorporate mindfulness into daily life (in class, extracurricular activities, among peers), specific meditations and movement practices, compassion training, and more.;Part I. Understanding mindfulness -- Stress and the American kid -- Mindfulness: what exactly is it? -- Building the foundation: your own mindfulness practice -- Part II. Practices for children and teens -- Introducing mindfulness to kids -- Visualizing mindfulness: harnessing the imagination -- Mind the body: body-based mindfulness practices -- Going with the flow: mindfulness and movement -- Shortcut to the present: using sound and our senses -- Playing attention: games, play, and creative mindfulness -- Making the virtual virtuous: mindfulness and technology -- Making mindfulness stick: integrating short practices into the day -- Part III. Sharing mindfulness in a formal setting -- Tips for teaching mindfulness -- Enlightened community: creating a culture of mindfulness.