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Mindfulness Training to Promote Self-Regulation in Youth: Effects of the Inner Kids Program

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Handbook of Mindfulness in Education

Part of the book series: Mindfulness in Behavioral Health ((MIBH))

Abstract

Mindfulness training offers one approach to promote self-regulation, and potentially, to improve long-term developmental outcomes. Although mindfulness training programs are geared primarily for adults, there have been advancements in the development of programs designed for children and adolescents. In this chapter, we focus on one mindfulness training program called Inner Kids and the impact it might have on self-regulation and other important health constructs. The objectives of this chapter are to define self-regulation and consider its relation to other conceptually similar constructs and its developmental trajectory across childhood and adolescence; provide a brief overview of mindfulness; and offer a discussion of how mindfulness training might promote self-regulation. We then turn to a discussion of Inner Kids, as well as to results of a randomized controlled trial testing the program’s beneficial effect on self-regulation in second- and third-grade children. We conclude with specific recommendations for future research.

The mind, hard to control,

Flighty—alighting where it wishes—

One does well to tame.

The disciplined mind brings happiness.

~Buddha

Dhammapada

…Set your mind to concentrate.

For those whose minds are slack and wandering

Are caught between the fangs of the afflictions.

~Shantideva

The Way of the Bodhisattva

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Brian M. Galla

  2. The Inner Kids Program, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Susan Kaiser-Greenland

  3. Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    David S. Black

Authors
  1. Brian M. Galla
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  2. Susan Kaiser-Greenland
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  3. David S. Black
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian M. Galla .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Educational & Counselling Psyc, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl

  2. Portland, Oregon, USA

    Robert W. Roeser

Appendix: Inner Kids Sample Practices

Appendix: Inner Kids Sample Practices

Pinky Pointing

A playful way for children to notice and identify what they are thinking and how they are feeling and communicate what they learn to you without using words.

Sequence for Pinky Pointing

  • Suggest that sometimes it is hard to put feelings into words, but that it is important to find ways to notice feelings and communicate them. Pinking Pointing can help when it is hard to describe feelings with words.

  • Explain that you are going to ask a question, and children will respond with a pinkies-up, pinkies-down, or a pinkies-sideways. Ask children to wait to respond until they hear the word “Go” as in “1-2-3-Go!”

  • Ask a simple, concrete question (for instance, is it easy or hard to sit still right now), and invite children to answer using their pinkies (pinkies up if it is easy, pinkies down if it is hard, pinkies sideways if it is in-between). “1-2-3-Go!”

  • Ask children to keep their pinkies in the air and look around.

  • Point out that not everyone feels the same way. Now that is interesting!

  • Repeat with one or more clear, concrete questions.

Notes

  • It is common for children to check how their friends respond before responding themselves. To avoid this, make sure children wait to give their pinkies up, down, or sideways until they hear the words “1-2-3-Go!”

  • After children answer a question, ask them to keep their pinkies in the air and check to see how others responded. This reminds them that they are not alone in how they are feeling, and the flip side, that not everyone feels the same way that they feel.

  • There are no right or wrong answers, and one answer is not “better” than another, the object is simply to notice and identify what is happening, in the present moment.

The Awareness Meter

The Awareness Meter is a visual aid that offers children a playful way to reflect on a life experience and communicate to you whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. The sequence for using the Awareness Meter is similar to the sequence for playing Pinky Pointing.

Sequence for Awareness Meter

  • Check to make sure that children understand the meaning of the words “pleasant,” “unpleasant,” and “neutral” by asking for examples of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences.

  • Suggest that it is helpful to pay attention to the quality of our life experiences by noticing which ones feel pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.

  • Ask a simple, concrete question (for instance, what is it like to stop and feel your breathing) and invite children to answer using the Awareness Meter (pointing to the red triangle for pleasant, the blue triangle for unpleasant, and the yellow triangle for neutral).

  • Ask children to keep pointing to the appropriate triangle on the Awareness Meter while they look around to see where their friends are pointing.

  • If working with a group of children, there will usually be different opinions.

  • If there are different opinions, ask for volunteers to describe the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral qualities of their experiences.

  • Brainstorm about ways that noticing these different qualities can help children navigate life’s ups and downs.

Notes

  • The object of the activity, in the first instance, is for children to notice and identify the quality of a life experience. A pleasant experience is not necessarily better than an unpleasant or a neutral one.

Counting Breaths

Counting breaths develops concentration (focused attention) and helps students quiet busy thoughts by narrowing their field of concentration. Sometimes referred to as training wheels for meditation, it is one of the first formal introspective practices we teach children.

Sequence for Counting Breaths

  • Ask children to define concentration. For instance, concentration is paying attention to one thing and nothing else.

  • Ask students to define a distraction. For instance, a distraction is something that makes it difficult to pay attention to one thing and nothing else.

  • Ask children to offer examples of things that are easy to focus on (a favorite video game, for instance) and things that are hard to focus on (homework that feels boring, for instance).

  • Explain that counting breaths is one way to practice concentrating and that the more we practice, the easier it becomes to concentrate on one thing and ignore distractions.

  • Encourage children to sit (or stand) like a mountain with their spines straight and their muscles relaxed.

  • Raise one finger and suggest that children keep the number one in their minds (silently think the number 1) when they breathe-in and relax when they breathe-out.

  • Raise a second finger and suggest that children silently think the number 2 when they breathe-in and relax when they breathe-out.

  • Raise a third finger and suggest that children silently think the number 3 when they breathe-in and relax when they breathe-out.

  • Continue counting from 1 to 3 using hand motions (no words) for the remainder of the introspective period.

Notes

  • Children can lead the class in counting breaths either out loud or by raising a finger with each inhale (one finger, then two fingers, then three fingers).

  • Group students in pairs or small groups and ask them to take turns leading three breaths together by raising a finger with each inhale.

Listening on Purpose

Even when a room seems quiet, there’s sound around us. If you take a minute to listen carefully, you might be surprised at all that you hear.

Sequence for Listening on Purpose

  • Encourage children to sit (or stand) like a mountain with their spines straight and muscles relaxed.

  • Invite children to close their eyes and remind them you will keep yours open.

  • Lead a brief progressive muscle relaxation starting at the top of the head and moving down by first relaxing the muscles in their faces, then their chins, necks and shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, hands, fingers, chests, bellies, rears, upper legs, lower legs, ankles, feet, toes.

  • With spines straight and muscles relaxed, encourage children to listen normally, making no special effort. Remind them not to be surprised if soon their minds wander. The moment children notice that their minds have wandered is a moment of mindful awareness!

  • After listening on purpose for a few minutes, ask children how they feel. Many children say they feel more relaxed or focused or calm. Reflect on times that listening on purpose could be helpful outside of mindfulness class—at home, at school, or in the community.

Notes

  • When working with a group, start with a few minutes of listening on purpose and extend the length of time as children become more comfortable with the activity.

  • Pace the activity based on how long the least comfortable child can practice.

  • Transitions, or times that children are waiting, are opportunities to listen on purpose.

  • You can use a bell, tone bar, water feature, or CD to better control the ambient sound.

Imaginary Hugs

Children practice concentrating as they picture themselves in a safe place where they are happy, healthy, and having a lot of fun. Children bring to mind pictures of other people too and visualize images of themselves, their families, their friends, and eventually everyone and everything having a lot of fun as they live happily, safely, and peacefully together.

Sequence for Imaginary Hugs

  • Ask children what it feels like to get a hug and give someone a hug.

  • Check to make sure that young children understand the words “pretend” and “imagine” by asking them what it means to imagine that they are doing something else or to pretend that they are in someplace else.

  • Invite children to imagine a peaceful place. If working with a group, ask children to put one hand on their heads when they have a peaceful place in mind so that you will know when everyone is ready.

  • Once children have a peaceful place in mind, ask them to pretend they can feel, see, touch, hear, taste, or smell something in that peaceful place.

  • Encourage children to give themselves a hug and send themselves a friendly wish picturing themselves in a peaceful place where they are having fun and feeling happy.

  • Next invite children to give an imaginary hug to a friend or family member and send that person a friendly wish. Ask children to put one hand on their head when they have chosen the friend or family member.

  • Once all the children have a hand on their head, encourage them to hold their arms away from their chests in a circle and pretend they are hugging that friend or family member picturing him or her in a peaceful place where they are happy, safe, and having fun.

  • Children can give even more people imaginary hugs by bringing them to mind too as they make their arms wide enough to hug all of them in their imaginations while silently sending them friendly wishes.

  • Close by encouraging children to stretch their arms out wide and imagine that they can hug the entire planet as they imagine a world where everyone and everything is happy, healthy, safe, and peaceful.

Notes

  • We only invite children to close their eyes, we do not insist on it, and we remind them that our eyes will be open and watching the room when their eyes are closed.

  • We do not ask children to ignore or change their feelings about what is happening in their lives when they picture the world as a kind and happy place. Nor do we ask them to change their feelings about people they know by asking them to like someone whom they don’t already like.

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© 2016 Springer-Verlag New York

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Galla, B.M., Kaiser-Greenland, S., Black, D.S. (2016). Mindfulness Training to Promote Self-Regulation in Youth: Effects of the Inner Kids Program. In: Schonert-Reichl, K., Roeser, R. (eds) Handbook of Mindfulness in Education. Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3506-2_19

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