It can be easy to rush through life without fully appreciating what it has to offer. Many of us are not living our best life, because we are preoccupied with the past and the future. We can live our lives on autopilot, in an almost mechanical state, functioning without really thinking. When we live in the past it can be depressing, when we are fixated on the future it can sometimes cause anxiety. The present is the only time we can live in and that is sacred, so why miss it? If we spend all our waking hours glued to our phones, social media and devices we may miss the beauty right in front of us. Mindfulness helps develop our understanding of how our brain works, increases our concentration, our sense of calm and our compassion for ourselves and others. As a result, developing our practice makes us happier, healthier, and more skilful at responding to difficult emotions; overall, it increases our focus and enhances our performance. WE FEEL CONNECTED! This book shares with you seven mindfulness techniques that, with daily practice, will have a profound positive effect on your well-being and the young people in your care. The guidance is to practise each one of the techniques for a week over a period of six weeks and record what you notice. To maximise the benefits, at the end of the six weeks, make a plan of how you are going to integrate all the practices into your daily life, using the example at the back of the book as your guide. This script in the first instance is geared towards children at the top end of primary school (9-11 years of age), with the support of their parents/carers/teachers. The intention of this script is to improve the health and well-being of people of all ages, by equipping them with the well-being tools to live a healthier and happier life.
