Hello and welcome.

Today, we're going to talk about how

we can strengthen children's resilience

through the power of mindfulness.

Resilience in children comes from

the core belief that they can quickly

bounce back from difficult situations.

The regular practice of mindfulness

and meditation helps train the brain to

have stronger focus and acceptance of

what's going on in the present moment.

This is important to know as

research shows that resilience

is connected to attention control

and cognitive reappraisal.

So our ability to direct our full

attention towards a situation and

then to reconsider the situation

with a positive perspective, with

a silver lining attached to it.

Now, how can we apply this

understanding with children?

We can use a quick two-step process.

Step one, validation

and step two, optimism.

Every time your child is facing

a situation that challenges their

emotions, you can use this as an

opportunity for resilience building.

For example, say they lost in

a game with their siblings.

To build their resilience, let's first

validate and label their emotions.

You can say something like, I see

that you look sad and disappointed.

Do you feel upset that you lost the game?

I understand how you feel.

Sometimes I feel sad too,

when I lose something."

Then let's demonstrate

optimistic thinking.

You can say something like, "Sometimes

when we lose, we can feel super

energized to get better at the game.

Can you practice at something to

get better for the next game."

Or even, "I wonder how

your brother won this time.

Maybe we can learn what strategies

he used to win the game.

Do you want to try and find out together?"

When we validate our children's feelings,

we are guiding them to become mindfully

aware of the emotions being felt by their

body, acknowledging that it's okay and

completely normal to feel these things.

This is a tension control aspect

that we talked about earlier.

When we're demonstrating optimistic

thinking, we're teaching our children

that they hold the power to reinterpret

a situation and look from a different

perspective, a perspective that

inspires positive change and growth.

This is the cognitive reappraisal element.

Now to really solidify and maintain a

resilient mindset, it's just as important

to be regularly repeating the strategy.

Facing a challenge, validation, optimism.

Conflict validation, optimism.

Tantrum validation, optimism.

So on and so forth, getting

easier and quicker over time.

Thank you so much for your

time and presence here today.

And thank you for sharing the joy and

power of mindfulness with your children.