Why Every Kid Needs A Morning Routine

As a lifelong yogi and new mother, I'm continuously inspired to bring the mindfulness I've been practicing for the past decade into our home and child's upbringing. Yoga and meditation have been steadfast through my pregnancy and since our daughter's birth, and we're now working on instilling the same mindful principles in her. The consistency of a mindful morning routine can positively influence your energy levels, attitude, and performance throughout your day, so why not include your children in this? Just as quick as her sleep patterns can go awry, she can also wake up by offering a kiss and start reaching to the sky with deep breaths.

Just as we parents crave routines for ourselves, we should likewise strive to create structure and ease that's healthy for our children to start their day as well. Science has shown time and time again that routinized schedules help with early development1, with such kids growing up with fewer attention problems, better time management skills, better emotional control, and even less risk of obesity2. According to one analysis in the Infants & Young Children journal, young children are keenly aware of the daily, weekly, and annual rhythms of family life and eager to be involved as central players.

"Naturally occurring family routines and meaningful rituals provide both a predictable structure that guides behavior and an emotional climate that supports early development," the researchers explain. "In previous studies, this emotional commitment to rituals has been found to be associated with adolescent sense of identity and lower rates of anxiety symptoms under high-risk conditions."

While making sure our kids get enough sleep, brush their teeth, and eat breakfast is vitally important, adding in mindful practices that are grounding, calming, and purposeful can help provide long-lasting self-regulation skills (for everyone).

There is plenty of research out there confirming mindfulness has loads of benefits, and these days, the data has also begun expanding beyond adults and deeper into adolescent psychology. Mindfulness can boost kids' mental health3, attention, and social competency, to name just a few.

With the doors on mindfulness research swung wide open now, mindfulness in our education systems curricula has begun to grow rapidly. Many schools4 are shifting detention rooms focusing on punishment into teaching kids how to meditate5 with a focus on quieting the mind, and they're showing progressive results with a need for continued research. Programs like the Goldie Hawn Foundation's MindUp and Mindfulness in Schools Project are just two examples of the plethora of offerings out there, all trying to help young people access these far-reaching benefits of mindfulness.

Understanding what mindfulness means yourself will be key if you plan on teaching this to your youngsters in an age-appropriate way. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a mindfulness researcher and creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, describes mindfulness as "awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally." I love the simplicity of this conscious notion as we find a place to begin.

What does this look like for your family? Are your kids usually in bed with you or tucked into their own beds in their own rooms? Either way is absolutely wonderful, and you can create a mindful breathing practice in any bedroom you're waking up in. Mindful awareness of breath is a great building block for other healthy mindful practices and can help regulate emotions at any given point throughout our days.

Breakfast can be a wonderful family bonding time if you create it intentionally. Today, it's easy to allow devices to take the place of interaction with each other. Kids watching an overstimulating program or playing a mindless game on an app is an effortless way for them to tune out of engaging face-to-face and be consumed by a screen. Technology has tremendous capabilities and many benefits, but that presents new challenges we have to be mindful about and lead by example. Try no devices or TV during the morning routine and take note of any positive changes.

This next one can be done anytime in your morning routine, but try to choose a moment to stack it with something everyone does, and keep it consistent. It could be once everybody is dressed, right after breakfast, maybe as the teeth are getting brushed, or on the way out the door. There are plenty of moments to choose from.

I firmly believe children learn by example, so having your own practice that they can witness or be aware of is also essential. As we demonstrate our model of mindfulness through being able to self-regulate our emotions and responsive minds, we deepen our children's ability to do the same. Roll out a mat for them to practice yoga next you or invite them to sit quietly with you as you meditate. They will bear witness to our ability to shift into awareness of the present moment, and we connect deeper to our own parenting experience. That is a win-win for everyone. Imagine the benefits that they could carry with them throughout their lives when we start early.