Mindfulness - Medicine for the Mind

One of the oldest and most important topics that most early years settings have covered over the many decades is ‘People who help us’. I would argue that this topic is essential, as it teaches our children which agencies and services are there to support them in an emergency. This topic focuses on teaching our children the basic Bear Grylls survival techniques such as; calling the police when you’re in danger or going to the doctors when you are not physically well, all of which are vital life skills. 

Due to the input from parents and teachers, children have been able to do and make remarkable decisions that have saved lives. You hear the heart-warming stories of remarkable children saving friends and family members because they have been informed and shown from the get go what to do in an emergency. 

In terms of child physical health, I would argue that we as a nation campaign consistently and work extremely hard to ensure that our children have the knowledge and resources that they need to be able to develop into fully functioning adults. However, one department that I feel we as a society struggle to understand and support is mental health and well-being, not only in our adults but also our children.

As you may know the idea of mental health and how our children suffer has been a huge topic of conversation. Many of us; if not all of us will experience or come across poor mental health, be it with our own mental health or through a relative, friend or colleague. I would argue that many of us do not have a scooby when it comes to knowing what to do when our own or someone else’s mental health has been compromised. 

Due, to this uncertainty, people who are seeking out support are often met with a panicked gaze and the advice that often follows is to go to your GP. I have always found this lack of knowledge frustrating and also absurd, the reason being is that our mental health is no different to our physical health and should not be treated differently. When it comes to our physical health there is - I would argue, less panic and people have a clearer idea of what they need to do, but with our mental health it can feel as if people are asking you to decode the matrix.

Many of us are told we need to go to the doctors and yes to some extent they are skilled, they can refer you to different services and provide you with medication to ease the symptoms. However, due to the lack of funding there are often huge waiting lists and the services are only available for a limited amount of time. Not only do our children lack the knowledge of how to support their mental well-being, but they have no understanding of how to navigate the mental services or how to access the ones that are appropriate to their healing journey. 

Navigating the complex matrix of the mental health services, can be a very intimidating and complex process and for each person the path of healing is unique. Every healing journey is different and there is no average amount of time that it takes to heal.

In order to ensure that we support our children in terms of teaching them how to care for their mental health and well-being, schools need to be given the appropriate training, funding and support. Without these tools teachers have their hands tied behind their backs. 

There is however, one medium of personal mental health care that has been a huge medium on social media, is the concept of self-awareness and practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is based on the concept of doing small things such as; meditation, breathing, drinking herbal tea and getting fresh air each and every day to care for our mental health. I believe that there are ways in which we can adapt this practice and teach our children even in the early years how to practice and apply mindfulness. If you are interested in developing mindfulness within your classroom check out the Educations Voice blog.

See how Ann-Marie found that she could provide her children with good quality experiences just by using simple objects and making some simple adjustments to the way she gets involved in and observes their play. Find out more about how you can make simple adjustments in your classroom that will inspire investigation and creation.