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Resource eBlast January 2021 for families of children and youth with special health care needs

Mindfulness in the New Year Mindfulness is focusing your awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This e-blast for families provides suggestions on how to understand and practice mindfulness, even when it feels like there is no time at all!

What is Mindfulness? You are not alone if you sometimes struggle with the meaning of this word… let alone knowing how to practice it or having the time to do it! Mindful.org defines the basics and offers suggestions. Let's work toward some ways we can simply “be” in our hectic, overwhelming, and very COVID-19-impacted lives as families of CYSHCN.

Can Mindfulness Help Mothers of Disabled Children? Are you unsure whether mindfulness can really help support you and your family given the everyday challenges of raising a child with special health care needs? This article summarizes a study published in Pediatrics that demonstrates real change for families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Give it a try! Consider ideas from these resources offering mindfulness practices and activities across the lifespan: 7 Mindfulness Exercises for Kids and Families (from Mindfulness Exercises) Mindfulness Practices for Families (from ZERO TO THREE) 21 Great Mindfulness Activities for Teens (from themindfulword.org)

51 Mindfulness Exercises for Kids in the Classroom For many of our children and families, the “classroom” is home, so consider some of these simple yet profound mindfulness activities from Waterford.org that might help us all catch our breath!

Talking to Kids About Mindfulness Some kids may not understand, accept, or want to do some of the activities or mindful practices you suggest. How can you introduce the concepts to them? How can you help them to try it? Modify for their needs? Consider some ideas and advice from these articles: How to Talk to Your Kids About Mindfulness (from Cleveland Clinic HealthEssentials) What is Mindfulness and How to Explain it to Kids and Adults (from Blissful Kids) Learning to Celebrate Neurodiversity in Mindfulness (from Mindful.org)

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