Hello

Moving to a new house, city or country is never easy. It’s filled with bittersweet emotions and moments.

The excitement of the new mixed with the missing of the old. Difficult emotions come and go, comparisons of the new and old life are common and thoughts of “what if we never settle?” can take over our minds creating storylines that snowball out of control.

 

But those who have moved are well aware, we all settle, we find friends, we find structure and

routine and our new normal becomes, just normal. Mindfulness can help on the tricky days, the days when the emotions and the thoughts get the

best of us.

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Mindfulness is being present, it is being in the moment. Noticing what is around you, what you can hear, feel, smell, see. It’s about noticing the thoughts in your head, how your body feels physically and just being with it all. Not trying to change anything, not judging yourself or your thoughts, just being.

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When we try to be present we realise how difficult it truly is.

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Try it now, take a mindful moment. Sit and know you are sitting, feel your feet on the floor, your hands on your legs, the upright feeling of your spine. Close your eyes and focus on your breath.

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Can you focus on the inhale and grow taller, then focus on the exhale and relax.

 

How many breaths can you focus on before the thoughts come?

 

It’s okay to acknowledge the thoughts, think of them as bubbles and let them go…watch as they float away.

 

The beauty of mindfulness is you can’t fail at it, you just breath and begin again, and again, and again….the more mindful moments you take the more your mind can be trained to find its focus longer.

 

Neuroscience has proven this.

 

Let’s look at some ways we can practice Mindfulness as a family.

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•Dealing with difficult emotions (where do you feel this in your body? Acknowledge the

emotion, sometimes that is enough, grounding 54321, create a safe space at home to take mindful moments in)

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•Letting thoughts go (thought bubbles, labeling thoughts, anchor)

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•Notice (rainbow walk, colour walk, look for the lovely)

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•Body scan (relax at night, during the day)

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•Gratitude (scavenger hunt, gratitude jar, thank you notes)

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•Movement (tell a story through yoga, write your name in yoga poses,

take your stuffy for a ride)

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Practice ABC

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A -Awareness (how are you feeling?)

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B – Breath (focus on your breathing, take one deep breath, then another)

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C – Calm (do you feel better? Have you found some calm in your head and heart?)

 

The STOP method: check in on yourself

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S - STOP

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T – take a breath

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O – observe how you feel

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P – proceed on knowing you are doing okay