December starts tomorrow and I feel like November was just this blur…it went by so quick. I went from feeling super prepared to feeling like everything was on top of me and I started getting really overwhelmed.

Every time I made time to step onto my mat and do my self-care practices, I could feel that relief, I could feel everything start to settle again. It didn’t make the stressors in my life stop…..but it just helped me come back to myself, ease my racing mind and breathe a little deeper.

And the thing is my brain is busy…..ALLLLLL the time. And life gets stressful and I am prone to getting overwhelmed, overstimulated and somehow feeling like I’m doing too much…… while also not doing enough…..? Yeh, I know doesn’t make much sense.

And so my own self-care practices are needed. But what is also important to me is that my kids are able to have practices that support them – now and as they get older. Because I have taught hundreds and hundreds of children, and when I ask them if their brain ever feels busy and things get overwhelming….. so many of them have their own experience of this. We often think like what do kids have to worry about, or being a kid is just being happy and playful all the time….. but kids feel thinks deeply, intensely. They get busy minds too, they get overwhelmed and overstimulated too. They need self-care practices too.

So today I wanted to share some of my favourite practices you can do together this season. Because they are tools that can help release stress and tension, help children return to themselves, bring balance and help them breathe a little deeper, a little easier. And it get’s to be fun, because of course, this is how children learn best. Through that playfulness and connection that helps make these practices accessible to them – because let’s be honest, our self-care practices would probably bore them 😂 They can still benefit from calm and relaxation, but it has to meet them where they are and be something that can be explored – not forced.

Chocolate Meditation

This is one my youngest who is 7 really enjoys, as do I haha (my eldest isn’t huge on chocolate so we practice with apple slices or a lolly). I practiced this with my students last week, as we always do this on our last class before the Christmas break (I know I’m on my break super early – I wanted December off 😂). I love to use chocolate coins for this. This way we can start by bringing an awareness to how it feels in our hand, is it warm or cold, bumpy or smooth. Then we hold it up and notice how the light reflects of off it. We bring it to our nose and see if we can smell it. This is about being really slow, bringing our focus to our senses.

Then we will open the coin just a little bit (some of the younger ones need a little help to get started here), then we take a smell again – this time we can really smell the chocolate. We open up the chocolate and either inspect the chocolate or shove it right into our mouths because it is already starting to melt 😂 Could be worth putting them in the fridge first to be honest haha. And then just letting the chocolate melt on your tongue, so without biting it, and really paying attention to the taste, you can even close your eyes here. Really let yourself be in this moment.

It’s a fun way to practice a mindful meditation and the kids love it!

Hot Chocolate Breath

More chocolate haha. This one is great with the younger kids but the older ones also find it fun. It helps children to take deeper breaths in a way that is playful – instead of take a big breath, we are using the imagery of smelling and blowing. Smelling the imaginary hot chocolate, and blowing to cool it down.

For a bonus you can also “make the hot chocolate” first to include some movement first. Like creating a pot by sitting and bringing your feet together, and twisting and stretching to add ingredients, mixing it all up. Then the breath. Then drink it all up ofcourse!

You could even do a version of the chocolate mediation with a real cup of hot chocolate.

Yoga Musical Statues

This one is great to get moving and play with opposites – movement and stillness. This kind of play really helps children to build capacity in their nervous system because we are practicing going from a more activated state to a calmer one but in a really playful way. Choose your child’s favourite songs to get moving a grooving too, dance around with them. Challenge them to dance ‘bigger’ or can you get down low, little fun cues as well as letting them just free style. Then when the music stops freeze in a yoga pose – you could use the same one like tree pose, or mountain, or you can call out a different pose each time.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some fun practices with you today so that you can bring these into December and hopefully find more moments to have fun, relax and connect together because it is so needed. I’m going into December very intentional to be more present, slow down and practice my own self-care and more joyful practices together.

And yes, lot’s of cosy Christmas films too, which is exactly what I’m about to do with my kids now. Happy December!

Oh and by the way, You can keep the fun going with my 7 Day Family Yoga Program: Calm & Connect. 7 days of guided practices each 15 minutes or less. A lovely reset together.

I also have a tapping program for the grown-ups needing more self-care and support with regulation: ​

Regulate & Rise: 28 Day Parent Tapping Program: ​Now only €33​

Thanks for Reading, I hope you enjoy the cosy practices together!