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Mindfulness in the Making
FINDING GRATITUDE
By: Jocelyn Kay Levy | November 3, 2022
Hello November! I can’t believe we only have two months left of 2022.
For many people the holiday season is a happy and cheerful time when we get to be with family and friends; however, this time can also be stressful. The stress is real: dealing with family drama, buying presents, and preparing big celebratory meals. I personally get overwhelmed just thinking about family dynamics during the holidays, so this is the time I focus, even more than usual, on ways to bring Mindfulness practices into my life.
The biggest holiday mindfulness practice I try to cultivate is a positive mindset: expressing what I’m thankful for during the day, focusing on what others do right instead of wrong, and remembering the big picture when I’m stuck in a challenging situation. When it comes to family, we all have our familiar roles and old triggers, and with heightened expectations to be happy and merry, it can be a recipe for disaster.
Parents:
Before bed, in the morning, or whenever you can steal a moment for yourself, close your eyes and try to bring to mind a memory or experience that has brought you happiness or joy. Doing this practice for just one to five minutes can relieve stress and help bring positive feelings of gratitude and peace into our hearts.
Kids:
Perfect Dream is a mindfulness exercise I love to do with my five-year-old and with my school students. Start out by choosing a topic that can ignite feelings of happiness, such as a birthday party. You can help them imagine this by giving them prompts and questions such as, “Imagine you get to create your own special birthday party. Who would be there? What kind of yummy cake would you have?” Then continue with deeper questions like, “how does it make you feel when you get to have all of your best friends around you, singing and playing with you?” After the exercise, explore more with them about the feelings of happiness and then remind them that at any time they can come back to this place of gratitude and love if they are feeling sad or disconnected.
Together:
Of course, I have a song for you and you can listen together while driving to school or anywhere! Just singing about gratitude and love can help shift out of a negative headspace. Check out, “Be Love Be Kind” on my Wee Yogis Grow Album…you can hear it on Spotify, Apple music or anywhere you listen to music.
Jocelyn Kay Levy is a mama, musician, yogi and social innovator. She has been performing music and leading yoga and barre fitness workshops for over 15 years. Jocelyn is the founder of Wee Yogis Organization whose mission is to bring yoga and mindfulness to children through music, videos, podcasts, and teacher training. Wee Yogis is also the kids yoga program for Ram Dass’ Nonprofit Love serve remember. Learn more at weeyogis.com