Included are exercises both for you to do alone and with your children of all ages, giving them their own tools to help remain happy and peaceful too.

Small but beautiful things can transform your day. So stop every hour and do one thing that is kind towards yourself and just for you. You could try the Three-minute Breathing Space meditation below to restore a sense of calm. Or you could simply have a cup of tea with a good friend. Can you think of one active thing you can do that will move your experience today towards the positive? That little tiny sliver of space begins to open up for you, in which you can choose how to respond rather than simply react to it. Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience, and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful. Wrapping your baby up tightly you can then meet up with another mother, a friend or family. Establishing a walk and talk space becomes an opportunity to have a chat, a catch-up, a space where you get some adult attentionMindfulness is a form of meditation in which we are ‘training our attention’ to focus on specific things and let other things go. Through this practice, we can learn to focus on the things that are the most useful and helpful in our lives. This will allow us to live more consciously and fully. I can actively engage with my child and what we are doing, slow down, move, speak and act mindfully and thoughtfully.

Mindfulness for mums” are buzzwords that we’re hearing a lot in the counselling and psychology fields. It seems to be recommended as the answer to every mental health problem – but what is it, and can it ACTUALLY help mums? Mindfulness for Mums – A Living Practice Research has proven how meditation has a positive impact on our brain and how it functions. I try and meditate a few times a week, I also accept that some weeks I don’t and make more of an effort the week after. But if you can’t commit to meditations, or they’re just not for you, then that’s ok to… there are other ways fitting mindfulness techniques into your day-to-day routine that will have many benefits to your overall wellbeing. Imagine mindfulness as the umbrella (much like exercise) with a variety of activities underneath it (like the different types and different intensity of exercise). What are the benefits of being a mindful mum? Becoming mentally agitated is only going to cause myself suffering, the grocery store line isn’t going to move any faster. This mental game works wonders. Izzy Judd's beautiful and practical book will hold your hand through the challenging and exhausting days as well as the exciting and happy days.Before we get started below I’d like to take a moment to recommend the book, breathe mamma breathe. This book hit me right in the heart because every day I feel like I can’t keep up the frantic, out of control pace, that I’m stressed exhausted, that I yell at my children more than I enjoy them, I feel guilty, I’m distracted and am constantly replaying my to-do lists in my head. Here are a few guidelines, from Moni Celebi, a parent-infant psychotherapist from Babies1st, that many parents have found helpful: I felt very guilty for finding it tough after longing for a family for so long! Motherhood is the greatest thing and the toughest thing all at once and the moment this tiny person arrives in your world nothing ever feels the same again.

Notice any feelings and emotions as they arise. Can you let these come and go without pushing away those that you don’t like, or jumping on to those that you do like? Include everything within your awareness with a kindly perspective. Detach/Disconnect - from the outside world or social media if it makes you compare or become anxious. Also family members who make you feel this way too! This might be a little more difficult if you are a single parent, but it is still possible, perhaps take an hour after the kids are asleep to do a home yoga class or write in your journal. So why is mindfulness for mothers so important? Look at the five minutes you take from your day to practice mindfulness as little snippets of self-care time, a time where your mind gets a break, where you can re-energise and refocus. It might not be the weekend away you need, but it’s 15-20 minutes a day just for you, to recalibrate.You can practice mindfulness with your children,” says Izzy, based on her own experience. “Whether they choose to sit and join in or cause chaos, that’s just whatever the day might bring. But, for example, with Lola - nearly four - we do breathing exercises together and Kit, who’s two, is starting to join in. Mindfulness has been proven to help with stress and anxiety for a number of reasons. It can help us to notice our thought, feeling and behaviour cycle, it can help us to accept what is in our control and what is out of our control. It can also help us to identify triggers in our lives and how we can respond in a good way instead of reacting in an unhelpful way. More importantly, understanding this, can help us create a self-care routine or build in helpful techniques into our lives. Mindfulness-based therapies are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a way to treat less severe depression. Endlessly racing thoughts? Feeling like you’re on the verge of a panic at all times? Maybe this is for you.

An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means paying attention to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs.

Ever laid awake at night with a racing mind, trying to remmeber what the kids need in their bags for the next day? And the day after that? And everything you have to get ready for the weekend? And those projects you’ve been neglecting? And your health and fitness? And your relationships? su_note note_color=”#f6ff66″ radius=”0″]Today I will slow down and connect with the moment.[/su_note] As mums, we can find it difficult to be present, life is busier than ever and the challenges can at times feel overwhelming. We constantly ask ourselves if we’re doing a good enough job and our mind is spinning with the mental load. Mum guilt hangs over us and the daily noise of demands and expectations often means that our own wellbeing is overlooked. Step 3: Gently broaden and expand your awareness to include the whole body. Feel the weight and shape of the body as it sits, stands or lies. Feel the breath in the whole body. Imagine you are breathing in and out in all directions: 360-degree breathing. If you have any pain or discomfort, make sure your awareness stays open. Cultivate acceptance for all of your experience. Befriend it. Now, broaden your awareness even further to become aware of sounds both inside and outside of the room. Be aware of other people around you. Then imagine expanding all of your awareness outwards to include all of life. Imagine the whole world breathing.