Getting kids to go from a summer state of mind back to academics is always a big challenge for parents this time of year. But this back-to-school season comes with the added stress of living during a global pandemic that's sure to make things even more challenging.
Upworthy spoke with Josephine Atluri, a mindfulness expert and mother of seven, to learn some techniques parents and children can use to ease back-to-school stress and improve academic performance throughout the year.
Alturi hosts the popular podcast, "Responding to Life: Talking Health, Fertility, & Parenthood," and her new book "Mindfulness Journal for Parents" helps caregivers transform and enrich their parent-child relationship.
Atluri's age-appropriate mindfulness techniques can help students navigate "big emotions or tough situations" and allow them to "stay present versus worrying about past mistakes or future tasks."
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Mindfulness improves academic performance by enhancing students' focus and cognition. It can also help them manage their on-campus social lives by enhancing their emotional awareness.
Mindfulness techniques can also give student-athletes a leg up on the competition.
"Sports are typically a fast-paced activity with a lot of things happening at the same time," Atluri told Upworthy. "Plus, there's a lot of noise while playing from both the players and the fans watching. When you practice mindfulness, you practice slowing down and getting quiet within, no matter what is happening around you."
Looking for a "simple proven, no-nonsense" meditation technique? Upworthy has a great one you can learn here.
Alturi has different mindfulness techniques for students of every age group.
Preschool:
Kids at this age engage better with activities that are fun and visual. Two breathing techniques I love to use for little kids are:
Hugging breath: Have your child give themselves a big hug while breathing slowly. The hug gives them physical support which is especially helpful if they don't have someone around who can comfort them when they have big feelings. The slow breathing tells their brains they are moving from an overwhelmed state to a calmer state of being.
Wolf breath: Have your child pretend they are the wolf from the "Three Little Pigs" blowing down the houses with a long slow breath. The benefit of a slow exhale is that it gives you an opportunity to just let go and blow out your worries whether you realize it or not.
Elementary:
At this age, kids are better able to give meditation and mindfulness a try while also understanding the benefits. You still want to keep it on the shorter side so they feel like it's an activity that is approachable and the benefits are attainable.
A mindfulness practice that really resonates well with kids is cultivating gratitude. They can sit with their eyes closed and breathe slowly and call to mind a few gratitudes from their day. Plus, they can even cultivate gratitude without sitting in meditation and use the strategy when they feel themselves spiraling into a state of negativity.
Researchers have found that people who focus on gratitude are more optimistic, happier, and healthier.
Teenagers:
Teenagers who are struggling with issues of self-esteem, can improve their sense of self-worth by using a mantra while they are sitting with their eyes closed and breathing intentionally. They can remind themselves of affirmations like: "I am loved." "I am worthy." "I am smart." "I am beautiful." "I can do hard things."
Atluri believes that the most important thing parents can do to raise mindful kids is to model the appropriate behavior.
"Our children are always watching what we do as parents and taking it all in whether they realize it or not," Atluri says. "When they see you put into practice ways for managing stress in a healthy way and on a consistent basis, they'll begin to learn and see for themselves the benefits of using mindfulness strategies to combat stress, overwhelm, and worry."
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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.