Mindfulness Jar: Helping to Understand How Emotions Work

image from Chasing the Firefly

On Tuesday I used a Snow Globe to demonstrate how emotions work; there is an increase in feeling (like the snowy flurry in the globe) and then gradually, like the snow, that intensity begins to settle-the cease of emotions is never instantaneous--which would be really great for negative ones, eh!?

Most children thrive on visualisations and hands on activity, which is why providing these elements really helps them to better understand things that they can not actually see. Emotions can be a tough one at times, we all feel them so differently! In my line of work, I love to give children tangible things to help convey a message. It helps wonders which is why I want to share this Mindfulness Jar concept with you. We use a snow globe at our house as we have always had one handy, but you can easily make a jar as shown here at Chasing the Firefly. You can search many other sites for inspiration but I tagged this one as I like her edit on suggesting the appropriate time to use the jar. Like the blog author, we use ours during times of anxiety. You will often find that anxiety can be triggered after intense feelings such as anger, so some parents who may fear a smash session, may want to wait until the anger subsides and it is clear that what is left is anxiety . All children are different as how they display emotions.

The most important thing that I needed to mention during our session was that it will be hard for your child to learn to be more mindful, if you are not! I do mindfulness everyday for at least 10 minutes (recommended as research indicates 10 minutes of Mindfulness shows results over time)--generally I get 20 minutes in before bed. So make time for your OWN private mindfulness and tell your children, if they are around, that you need to your mindful practice now and need some alone time. They will understand if they are practicing too! I also do short little mindfulness exercises such as what I demonstrated at our session with my children during the week. The key is to may it part of your lifestyle. Do not wait until your child is filled with emotions to practice; repetition when in a baseline state will make the technique easier and more useful when they really need it.

I will post some more about this at it seems to have been a big hit for everyone. I think it is great how you are sharing the concept with friends. Your children will be M.A.D. with other their friends as they share and demonstrate what they are doing.

Until next time,

Megan xx