An Easy Way to Teach Mindfulness

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, we wanted to share a bit about how to inspire the gratitude so commonly associated with the holiday - in particular, an easy way to practice mindfulness with your children (which is a great way to inspire gratitude). The answer, below. Ellen Langer, the social psychologist most famous for her unconventional studies on mindfulness and the language we use to describe our experiences and the meaning/ideas we attach to them was recently interviewed on On Being with Krista Tippett.  She suggests that mindfulness is achievable without the typical suggestions of meditation or yoga. Mindfulness, and ultimately gratitude, can be practiced through the simple act of "actively noticing things." How easy is that?!This Thanksgiving break, try to engage your children in this act of noticing. Be quiet and reflective, slow down, and enjoy the noticing! From there, we can draw attention to what we are grateful for, and encourage our children to do the same.