After being bullied by the school tyrant, what does a child (who is overcome with humiliation and rage) do?

Vent out those feelings on another unsuspecting victim?

Or throw a tantrum before the next adult – who may be a bewildered parent or teacher?

And now imagine the cascade: the adult who is bombarded with these violent expressions of rage from the child is hardly going to remain unaffected by it. Depending upon the state of mind of the adult at the time of this tirade, there could be any one of the following consequences – a severe reprimand accompanied by strict punishment to the child, stunned silence followed by expression of those feelings to yet another unsuspecting victim, or engagement with the child to find out what caused this eruption … and so the waterfall of emotion flows.

How is one to teach children to understand and regulate their emotions?

Indeed, how is anyone (even an adult) to learn how to do that?

I watched an online talk by Rebecca Bowen (author of My Incredible Talking Body) and was inspired to hear her tell us that, as adults, we can learn to model calmness so that our children learn from us – and not the other way around!

It takes a village to raise a child, they say. How, then, does one raise a family?

Can families connect through the practice of mindfulness? Dr Christopher Willard says that this is eminently possible. He advocates mindfulness as a way of rewiring our brains and extending our lifespan, so that is good news for all those stressed parents out there! As I watched his online talk in this conference, I was struck by the convincing way in which he communicated the possibility of recognizing one’s mental patterns.

That adult who was at the receiving end of a child’s fury could well have benefited from recognizing his/her own mental patterns. That would have nipped in the bud a knee jerk reaction – and paved the way towards an engaging response.

How early can one begin to teach children to be mindful? You would be surprised! These experts tell us that it is very doable even at an early age … but you would need to listen to them to see for yourself if it makes sense to you.

Parents (and any adults who deal with children, be they teachers, counsellors, aunts, uncles or grandparents) need to be raised – it is not just children who have to raised.

Which is why a conference that seeks to raise kids as well as parents is greatly needed today!

If you are struggling with questions about parenting, dealing with your young students or even your nieces/nephews, there is an online conference titled Kidskintha Parenting Consciousness Conference 2019 which you may find relevant.

It starts on February 15th 2019, and registrations are now open at: http://www.kidskintha.com/online-summit

The Kidskintha Parenting Consciousness Premium Recording Package contains videos by 28 experts from the diverse fields of neurology, psychology, mental health coaching, education, educational entrepreneurship and many more speaking on hot topics to help parents raise themselves to raise children their world needs.