Three Mindful family activities for your evening

When our days are busy, busy, busy it is more important than ever to take time to pause. Take a moment for some mindful movement. Here I have three practices you can do at home on any evening. Their is mindful walking which can be a fun way to slow down and be present, Yoga dance which is a great way of moving mindfully but can also be energetic if that is how you are feeling - great for getting the wiggles out and then you can slow it down, moving from fast to slow is a great way to get the children to focus and be ready for a calm activity after, which leads us to our meditation - The fairy's gift. This is inspired by a meditation I practiced in one of my teacher trainings, it is absolutely beautiful. I hope your yogis enjoy it! 

Mindful Walking - The evenings are dark and you may not want to go out for a walk but how about just around the room? You can practice mindfully walking by matching the movement to your breath and be going really slowly. The intention here is to be really present, to be aware of your surroundings and how each movement feels. 

Yoga Dance - This is a fun practice with yoga cards but can be done with out too. Put on some happy music and practice a few of your favourite yoga poses. You could even include some partner poses. Turn this into a dance, how can you join the poses together? How can they flow from one to the next? This is a great opportunity for play and creativity. 

The Fairy's Gift  Meditation Inspired by Rainbow Yoga 

 Lie down and relax on your mat, on your bed or on a blanket. Breathe slowly into your belly, filling it like a balloon and then release, letting all the air out. With every breath in, bring peace and joy into yourself and with every breath out let all the things that are not feeling good out. Listen to your body, listen to your heartbeat; feeling more and more relaxed.  Imagine, standing out in a field. Maybe somewhere you have visited before or somewhere made up. In this wonderful field there are millions of colourful flowers in full bloom. There are orange flowers, blue ones, yellow, pink, and even special rainbow coloured flowers here. Breathe deeply and smell the sweet fragrance of these flowers. There are also many birds flying around; listen to their sweet songs.
The sun is shining and you can feel the rays warming you. Beautiful butterflies in all sorts of colours are fluttering around you and you can feel their pleasant wings touching you. The sky has so many shades of blue, and those blues get mixed with the yellow of the sun… it’s stunning! All of a sudden, a fairy appears. She comes close to you and offers you a gift. It’s a spiritual gift; not a gift you can touch, but a gift that you really need, a gift you can feel in your heart. Maybe it’s a gift of love, or health, or success, or patience, or just a message… you know best what gift you need to receive now. Accept the fairy’s gift and thank her. Let the gift enter your heart now and become a part of you. (Allow the children to stay in silence for another moment here). Wiggle your fingers and toes, and remember that the gift the fairy gave you will stay with you forever. Slowly open your eyes and come back to sitting or stay relaxed and ready for bed.

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