Benefits of yoga for children

For those of you have discovered yoga & integrated into your life, you will know just what a necessity it is in moving not only your body and stretching your muscles, but for clearing your mind, moving stuck emotions, and releasing any dense energy that may be stored in your body.

Knowing how much good yoga does for you, you can imagine what wonderful gifts it has in store for your children! I for sure, wish I had learnt these life skills at a much younger age than around 30!

Children’s yoga doesn’t have to be as structured or focussed as adult yoga, it can be used as a fun way of exercise and play. A friend of mine, for example, created an amazing children’s book based around yoga poses connecting to animals, to make classes fun and interactive. It’s a great way to get children in a group setting, sharing this fun activity and incorporating it into their daily routine from a young age.

The benefits of yoga for children are endless:

1. Emotional & mental wellbeing

Your child becomes more aware of how they feel and can connect easily to their emotions. Through the yoga, breath, and relaxation, they can connect with where they feel emotions in their body and how they can work through feelings into a more positive space.

2. Physical health and wellbeing:

Yoga is a great way to get your child moving and away from digital devices. Get your child away from a screen, from using their phones or watching online videos, get them moving their body and stretching out from sitting all day.

3. Tune up the brain!

Yoga can help their brain activity, activate meridian points to wake up the brain. This translates into clarity, ability to learn and absorb information better, keep calm in stressful situations or challenges and understand the benefits of good physical and mental coordination.

Most of all, yoga and mindfulness in children allows them to have a much more joyful life. We all know that life comes with challenges and by installing some mindful movement into your child’s day from a young age, it allows them to come into adult life as joyful beings. If events in their lives have already dulled their natural radiance, yoga can help them reclaim it and navigate life with calm, patience and compassion.

If you are looking for a place to begin with introducing yoga to your children, we highly recommend this wonderful lady.

If you would like to speak to us about our current projects and how we are making steps to make changes in the education system for children, please reach out – https://miracorreainstitute.com/wp-admin

Article by Lauren Bagley

MCI Creative Editor

Current location: Bali, Indonesia

Mindfulness, is this a word you are familiar with? Is this something that you incorporate into your life?

At MCI, we have pivoted our business model slightly to focus on what is needed in the world right now. Things are changing at a rapid pace, and although the past couple of years have been extremely challenging, it has also given us time for reflection in the ways that we can make a difference.

Time is going by and will continue to do so, we can either adapt and accept the direction in which we are going, or we can resist. By evolving with the times & being more aware, conscious & loving beings, we can encourage our children, nieces, nephews and the rest of the younger generation to evolve in this direction with us. We lead by example and now is the time to step into our roles on this planet.

Through chaos, there is always opportunity for growth.

If there was a way to potentially help kids pay better attention, display more generosity & kindness with their peers, perform better in school and be more aware of themselves and others, would you try it with your loved ones?

Social, emotional and cognitive functioning are intermingled, kids may have difficulty in school when emotional challenges arise, which in turn impacts learning.

If children don’t have the skills to notice, feel and work through their emotions, it will put blocks on their freedom of expression & creativity and in turn make them feel insecure & in fear of fully showing their magic.

In the book ‘The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, by Philippa Perry, she states:

“If you treat your child’s sadness, anger and fears not as negatives to be corrected but as opportunities to learn more about them and to connect with them, then you will deepen your bond with them.”

Can you imagine how it could shift the level of connection between you and your loved ones? Community living and blended families are much more common on today’s world and often a child will grow up with many adults around them offering them love, guidance & support. Within our community & our world if we are effortlessly cultivating these qualities between ourselves, we can enable our peers and younger beings to pay close attention to how we move through our own challenges, triggers and life’s ups and downs.

With mindful awareness we can all pay closer attention to what is happening within ourselves, within our body, our thoughts, our feelings and emotions and channel that into deeper understanding, deeper connections & authenticity. The time is now to speak our truth, to live and honest, vulnerable yet courageous & joyful life.

The expansive open-heartedness of loving-kindness and compassion practices is one of the greatest gifts we can offer to ourselves right now, and our children.

The foundation of loving kindness is being a gentle friend to yourself, no matter what kind of experience you happen to be having in the moment.

Yes life is a rollercoaster, yes some things are out of our control, but we have a choice every day on how we react to the situations we are in.

By placing wellbeing at the heart of our daily focus, we are making important steps towards a healthier, happier, more compassionate society.

If you would like to speak to us about our current projects and how we are making steps to make changes in the education system for children, please reach out – https://miracorreainstitute.com/wp-admin

Article by Lauren Bagley

MCI Creative Editor

Current location: Bali, Indonesia

2021 – We are nearly 8 months in, and what a year! Again!

It’s been fascinating to me how I have personally dealt with moments of frustration, grief, anger, uncertainty. It’s unsettling, and worry for loved ones is a natural response.

I have to say, I am super grateful for the skills I have learnt in previous years. In fact, I feel like everything was preparing me for exactly where I am right now.

We always have a choice, in moments of fear, anxiety & vulnerability – do we wake up each day to just survive? Or do we claim back our power and thrive?

It’s important for me to state, that I don’t declare we push away these feelings, very much the opposite – we embrace them, we welcome them, we find opportunities in the chaos.

A mindset that has been coming up for me a lot recently is ‘flow state’.

So what Is flow?

Well, it Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes it as what we feel when we are alive.

Involved with what we do, and in harmony with the environment around. us.

Lastly, he says there is a full concentration or complete involvement.

Flow state is probably something you have experienced without realising it. It usually happens when you immerse yourself in something you love so much that you forget everything around you.

But how does flow truly feel?

The feeling of flow state could be described as a personal feeling of ecstasy.

Flow state is awareness and action merge, you get out of boredom, you get into creative flow, but not with so much excitement that you don’t know where to begin and it launches you into a state of stress and anxiety. A good example is writing, you get your idea, you begin writing it.

Once your mind and action connects so deeply to the task at hand, you go into flow state and everything else phases out.

In the state of flow, you don’t worry about failure whatsoever. You keep working on the task that you’re doing until completion. There was a cyclist that talks about this in one of Mihaly’s talks:

“ You feel like…there’s nothing that will be able to stop you or get in your way. And you’re ready to tackle anything, and you don’t fear any possibility happening, and it’s just exhilarating.”

Personally, during the past 18 months if discomfort & chaos, my passion project, and also my day to day job, have kept me in flow state, kept me focussed.

You know that saying? ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’

In flow state, your insecurities fade away. Everything around you seems not to matter. Your relationship issues, the bills that are stressing you out, the unanswered questions on your monkey mind. In flow state – only the task at hand is in your focus.

When you feel good, you flow effortlessly, you follow your heart, you get in the zone of the task at hand.

Flow is in fact, fundamental to wellbeing and mental health, it gets you into a ‘flowy’ state where your tasks feel effortless, uplifting & joyful. The sense of time is distorted, you fully immerse yourself, you are more productive, you can complete tasks in much less time than something you are not enjoying and procrastinating over.

Flow is a concept that must be mastered because it can give you that extra edge while competing against others in your field of interest.

In flow state, your prefrontal cortex shuts down – your brain cannot decipher between the past, now and tomorrow. You are fully in the now, fully involved in the task in hand. Your inner critic gets silent, you are getting out of your own way. You experience full embodiment, your risk taking goes up, creativity lifts – you get a huge boost in brain enhancing neuro chemicals – your motivation, creativity & learning increases & you go into super power mode!

Be the master of your own ship, choose what you are working on, choose what you are putting your energy into.

Remember, you don’t need to survive, you can in fact thrive.

My passion is to create a business built on genuine compassion, care & excitement about human evolution. We can consciously grow, expand & change as little or as often as we wish.

If you would like to discuss ways in which I reached this flow state & a more empowered life, I am offering a free 30 minute consultation in which we can connect & discuss your thoughts, goals, questions, or simply have an informal chat.

Connect with me here – https://miracorreainstitute.com

Our children’s health, happiness and social development are important to us. Their mental wellbeing, level of emotional intelligence and ability to show care and kindness from others should be just as high on the developmental priorities.

Children are open and eager to learning new skills, growing and evolving. Every child is unique & has wonderful creative skills desperate to be shared with the world. Embracing the unique qualities of every child and allowing them to follow their heart is at the forefront of our mission.

By allowing children to connect with their hearts and their emotions and becoming mindful, allows them to have clarity about their direction in life, as well as face every situation with strength & courage, with the safety of being vulnerable. This is where the magic happens, this is where there is space for individuals to fully step into their evolution & develop themselves on a mental, spiritual, intellectual level. Fully embodying all their feelings, dreams, goals, desires whilst stepping into the best version of themselves with pride and self love.

Our responsibility as adults and leaders is to provide a safe and secure space to allow children and young adults to flourish and take the first step toward their true purpose with encouragement and support. Every child deserves this chance in life and that is why we are on this mission, to make these opportunities available to all.

Compassion is something that is necessary to be taught to students in treatment of themselves and of others. If children and adolescents can learn about compassion, it can help to prevent many self sabotaging challenges in individuals, as well as criticism,  negative talk to others and bullying.

Compassion is something that can easily be taught, by adults in the family, peers and teachers. Children learn from what they see, what they experience around them & the love that they receive. By teaching the younger generation how to experience each day with love, kindness & compassion, we can help to create a future of conscious humans, that are evolving with emotional intelligence at the forefront of their growth. Relationships can be built on connections that are deep, and that are filled with honouring one anothers vulnerability, and supporting connections that are compassionate, filled with a sense of care & willingness to help. This is the kind of world that we can build as we move through life & support each other in our development and have awareness for everyone’s individual journey and that no two people are the same.

Meditation is a spiritual and mindful practice that helps an individual achieve the state of peace, calm and clarity. This is not just for spiritual seekers, but for everyone that wishes to enjoy the benefits of living life in a more balanced state.

Anxiety is common in so many people, and it is often a taboo subject, leaving young people scared to talk about it & scared to feel the feelings they are feeling.

Life can be overwhelming, especially when you are under pressure to study, make new friends, to try to fit in, experience new experiences, step outside of your comfort zone. We all remember the fears that come with being a child & adolescent.

Anxiety is so common nowadays in many people & it can often be a terrifying feeling to experience, let alone admit to anyone. Leaving younger individuals scared to talk about it & scared to feel the feelings they are experiencing.

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Simply working with the mind with the help of meditation leads to an improved sense of presence, calm, attentiveness, and an increase in valued human qualities such as empathy and patience. Therefore, starting this practice at a young age can support children and young adults in so many ways.

With small lifestyle changes, students can harness the power of meditation and have a stress-free learning period. With regular practice the advantages will be visible.

A calm mind helps to reduce stress & anxiety, with improved ability to focus, process & deliver on tasks. Meditation can help with pre-exam anxiety & fear, by allowing individuals to feel more present and prepared to step into their exams. Two studies have found that the Transcendental meditation reduces the symptoms of depression. Both anxiety and depression causes disruption in the learning process when the exam date nears, so with regular meditation it can be taken care.

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Aside from studying and exams, meditation and mindfulness is a life skill. It allows the individual to experience pure joy in their lives, allowing them to be present in each moment, with their families, their friends, enjoying their favourite meal. It reminds them to find happiness in every moment, which alone allows for a cheerful personality, and a valuable life skill that they can take with them into each relationship, job or inevitable life challenge.