Anyone looking for practical advice and tools for teaching mindfulness to children need not look further than Dr. Christopher Willard's new book, Child's Mind, coming Fall 2010 from Parallax Press. This is why Yoga Parenting, the company that produced an eight-week online course on mindful parenting, has collaborated with the publishing company to promote the book's release. During the introductory period, Yoga Parenting is offering Child's Mind readers exclusive free access to their documentary, Mindful Parents, Mindful Kids.
In this engaging sixty-minute video that regularly retails for $19.95, speaker and developmental psychologist Dr. Sophia Pierroutsakos discusses what mindfulness research in psychology can teach us about nurturing a sense of peace in our homes, ourselves, and our children. She also reviews realistic strategies for making sure television and other technologies are helping parents and caregivers keep the peace, not disturb it.
The book and the video work hand-in-hand to promote mindfulness practice among families. Sophia Pierroutsakos elaborates on the benefits of mindfulness in her experience both as a scientist and as a mother of two young children. Christopher Willard provides an overview of mindfulness and meditation techniques, with clear and detailed exercises designed for individuals and groups, along with personal stories that demonstrate the ability of mindfulness to empower children and adolescents.
“After reviewing Child's Mind, it made perfect sense to collaborate since our vision is the same. The aim of Yoga Parenting is to help parents become more present and closer to their children,” says Ria Sharon, co-creator of the online course, “which results in more confident, playful parents and happy, empowered children.”
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia, says; “This wonderful book suggests simple and fun exercises that lead to profound growth towards joy, calmness, strength, and emotional intelligence. The list of “A hundred things for kids to do mindfully” is worth the price of this important work. I recommend Child’s Mind to therapists, educators, parents, and anyone else who wants to help children develop into kind, happy, and resilient human beings.”
The author, Christopher Willard writes, “Child’s Mind is not just about teaching parents how to do something, it’s about doing these practices together in a way that bridges the generation gap and creates closer families, friendships and communities.”
The book and video package will be available for a limited time for $14.95 on www.parallax.org.
More About the Experts
Christopher Willard, Ph.D., has teaching experience that includes practicing mindfulness exercises with young children, teenagers, recently-paroled prisoners, and therapists. A psychotherapist at Tufts University, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Dr. Sophia Pierroutsakos, Ph.D. is a graduate of Washington University and the University of Illinois and is a professor at St. Louis Community College, where she teaches courses in Child and General Psychology and Parenting across Cultures. She has conducted research and published scientific articles in the area of development of thinking skills in infants and young children, including what and how children learn about pictures, video images and television, and other kinds of symbols.
