Mindfulness Musings:

Training Your Brain to Be Calm and Strong

Have you ever felt like your mind is a bouncy ball, zipping all over the place? Maybe you’re trying to focus on homework, but you keep thinking about what you want for a snack. Or maybe you get super upset when a friend says something mean, and it feels like your emotions take over everything!

Guess what? It’s not your fault! That’s just your incredible, super-powered brain and nervous system doing their jobs! But here’s the most amazing secret—the superpower hiding in your own body: you can actually train your brain to be calmer, stronger, and more focused using the powerful tools we use in children’s yoga and a little thing we call Mindfulness Musings!  Let’s infuse the science of neuroplasticity and the concept of awareness into removing our anxieties and becoming ever more rooted in the present.  We can remove the ramblings of the ‘Monkey Mind’ in order to bring back the serenity that we are all looking for.

The Mystery of the Wobbly Feeling: A Kid’s Guide to Your Nerves

To understand how yoga and mindfulness work their magic, let’s meet the key players in your Inner Calm Crew:

1. The Guard Dog (The Amygdala)

This is the part that yells “DANGER!” and makes you feel scared, worried, or super angry. When you’re under stress or upset, your Guard Dog takes over. It’s the reason you sometimes feel that wobbly feeling inside—your nerves are on high alert! We often react quickly when the Guard Dog barks.

2. The Wise Owl (The Prefrontal Cortex)

This is the smartest, most grown-up part of your brain! The Wise Owl helps you think things through, make good decisions, solve problems, and control those quick feelings. It’s all about self-control and making choices instead of just reacting.

3. The Elephant Memory Vault (The Hippocampus)

This little vault helps you learn new things and remember everything from your best friend’s birthday to the steps of Sun Salutation. A calm brain is a brain that’s ready to learn and focus!   Elephants are famously known for their incredible recollection skills.  Remember that this can be a strong and safe space within in you, just like an elephant, which is a symbol of wisdom, strength, and incredible memory retention.

4. The Caring Koala (The Insula) 

This helps us recognise how our body state is (whether it is tired, hungry etc.) and to acknowledge our moods. It helps us to tune into how other people are feeling.  It assists us into recognising our wobbliness or steadiness.

The Key Ingredient:

Awareness and the Present Moment

The skill of mindfulness is all about finding the present moment in a world full of distractions and stimulation.

The key ingredient? Awareness.

Mindfulness is simply paying attention to the here and now with kindness and curiosity. When you’re aware of what’s happening right now—what you see, hear, or feel in your body—you aren’t busy worrying about the past or the future. You become aware of your thoughts and feelings without judging them, knowing that this moment, this thought, and this current feeling will soon be replaced by a new one.

This ability to be in-tune with the present moment gives your Wise Owl time to step in and choose a healthy response, even when the world—or the inside of your head—feels chaotic.

Breathe In, Brain On! The Superpower of Neuroplasticity

Mindfulness and yoga aren’t just feel-good activities; they can literally change your brain! Here’s the science:

Your brain is incredibly flexible—we call this neuroplasticity (which means your nerves can be easily shaped or moulded!).  This function is part of the brain’s ability to change, adapt, and grow by creating new connections. Similiar to how a muscle in our arm stronger can become stronger with exercise – our brain also gets more powerful each time we use it.

Every new experience or challenge—like learning a new yoga pose or calming yourself with breath—compels your brain to reorganize its connections.

Repetition is the key! Just like you learned to ride a bike by doing it over and over, every time you practice mindful breathing, you are strengthening the connections that bring you calm. You are training your brain to be more relaxed, less anxious, and better at concentrating.

How Yoga Gives Your Brain a Superpower:

When you practice yoga, you harness this neuroplasticity to create optimal conditions for learning and emotional well-being:

• You Strengthen the Wise Owl: Moving mindfully and practicing balance poses trains your focus and concentration, building the brain power needed for self-control and better memory.
• You Settle the Nerves: Our focus on breath, like a calming Hand Breath, directly your nervous system to stand down. This decreases stress, anxiety, and hostility, leaving you feeling a general sense of well-being.  Head to the following YouTube link to learn more about this powerful tool:  Children’s Yoga – Mindful hand breathing to help with anxiety
• You Develop Healthy Responses: Mindfulness encourages you to pause between feeling a strong emotion and choosing how to act. This is how children learn to use these techniques whenever they need to calm themselves and refocus their energy.

Children already have a natural tendency to notice details that adults often overlook. By encouraging simple exercises, we plant the seeds for a practice that can sustain and nourish their minds, bodies, and spirits for a lifetime!

Your Daily Dose of Brain Magic! 

You have more control over your thoughts and behaviours than you think! Let’s awaken awareness in simple, daily activities:

• Mindful Walking: Feel your feet touch the ground. Are you walking like a stomping elephant or a quiet cat?
• Mindful Eating:  Can you try for one minute or even one mouthful to really notice your food?  To see the colour and shape, to smell its aroma, taste to see if your food is sweet, sour, bitter or salty?  Feel the texture, the weight and even to listen to the sound it makes when you are chewing. Without your devices or reading or chatting – just to be fully present in this moment of munching!
• Belly Breathing: Lie down and put a small stuffed animal on your belly. Watch your “Belly Buddy” rise and fall.
• Savasana (The Reset): Use this time to notice your body and your surroundings. You are letting your brain process and heal!

Keep practicing your yoga and mindfulness—you’re not just moving your body; you’re growing a calmer, stronger, and wiser brain that will help you thrive both on and off the mat!