Olivia Empson is only 9 years old but she’s already kind of an expert on mindfulness.
“Mindfulness is really just a big fancy word for paying attention,” she said.
Mindfulness is more than a mental health buzzword; it’s a way of life for thousands of people around the globe.
It’s at the center of Melissa McIntosh’s world - the Stratford mother is the founder of Mindful Kids Incorporated, which has been teaching kids how to be mindful for the past eight years.
“We often ask kids to pay attention, or we tell them to pay attention - but as adults we often don’t show them how, and that’s what we do with mindfulness; it’s all about the how. How to pay attention in certain ways with different mindful tools, to find our calm in [our] everyday lives,” said McIntosh.
For Olivia and her fellow mindfulness campers it’s about learning how to self-regulate when things don’t go their way.
“If I’m having like a sad day at home, or an angry day at school, or anything, it helps me calm down. So, I have like more options to do other than just talk to a teacher or get mad about something,” she said.
“I call it the lost art, a couple generations ago it was just a way of life - and life is beautiful and abundant and busy. Technology is fantastic in many ways, but it’s really teaching kids a way to cope in a positive way in the world that we are living in right now,” said McIntosh.
McIntosh, who has a background in education, offers mindfulness camps like the one in Stratford right now, along with one-on-one sessions for kids. Some are centered on kids in sports or girl empowerment, but all are based on the art of mindfulness.
“It’s not always just by meditation. We don’t sit on a mat for, you know, 60 minutes at a time. We’re integrating mindfulness in everything that we do, so they can find their calm and carry on and get their best days out of their life,” she said.
Mindful Kids Inc. is going so well McIntosh hopes to license Mindful Kids way beyond Stratford so kids across Ontario can find their calm. Her work is highly endorsed by young Olivia.
When asked if she thinks adults should learn about mindfulness, “Probably,” said young Olivia.
You can learn more at www.mindfulkids.ca.
