Energizing Mindfulness in Pediatric Occupational Therapy
While mindfulness is often associated with calming and grounding, it can also be an effective tool to energize or up-regulation—helping children become more alert, engaged, and energized, in pediatric occupational therapy. This is particularly useful for children who struggle with low energy, lethargy, or focus, such as those with sensory under responsivity or low arousal levels. Incorporating energizing mindfulness practices to stimulate energy and focus can prepare children for more active engagement in therapy sessions and daily activities.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness means, being in the “here and now”, or in other words, being mindful refers to having the ability to focus and maintain your attention on your present moment experiences as they are happening without wishing for things to be different in any way (Reid and Razza, 2022). You can read more about the benefits of mindfulness here.
Why Energizing Mindfulness is Important in OT
Occupational therapists work with children who may experience difficulties with alertness and energy levels. Children with sensory processing challenges, for example, might under-respond to stimuli, appearing sleepy or disengaged during therapy or school activities. Energizing mindfulness techniques designed to up-regulate can help increase children’s arousal levels and improve their focus and participation.
Mindfulness for energy and up-regulation focuses on activating the body and stimulating the senses, helping to shift children into a more alert and energized state. This is achieved by engaging in mindful practices that increase oxygen flow, physical movement, or sensory awareness.
Practical Techniques for Energizing Mindfulness
Mindful Breathing for Energy:
Certain breathing techniques can help stimulate alertness by increasing oxygen flow to the brain and body, making children feel more awake and ready for activity. Energizing Breaths include:
Karate HA Breath
- Bring your hands up as you inhale through the nose and quickly pull arms into the body on a forceful exhale out of an open mouth with a loud “ha”. Repeat 3-5x
Bunny Breath (also known as Kapalabhati Breath)
- Take short, quick exhales from the nose and passive inhales.
- Do 20 exhales at a time and then take a break and do another set.
Staircase Breath:
- Imagine you’re climbing up a staircase as you breathe, in in in, and then HA out as you ride the bannister down.
Freeze, Breathe, Melt:
- Incorporate breathing into a game. Walk around the room and then have the children Freeze! Breathe in and then Melt down to the ground as you breathe out.
Lions Breath
- Bring your hands up close to your face and make lion’s paws
- Take a Deep breath in
- Stick your tongue out as you simultaneously breath out and make a “Rawr” sound
Bumblebee Breath (Bhramari Breath)
- Hold your hands behind your back.
- Constrict the back of your throat and make a humming noise like a bumble
- Hum/Buzz as you rotate in a circle.
- Take the practice deeper by covering your eyes and ears.
Bumblebee Breath as a Game: Sit in a circle holding hands. Initiate the Bumblebee Breath in a specific tone. Everyone in the circle follows. Squeeze the hands of your neighbor and pass the lead to them. They begin the sound in a different tone. Continue until everyone has a turn.
Energizing Guided Imagery
- Guided Imagery can mentally stimulate children, helping them focus and feel more energized.
- Guide children through visualizing an exciting activity or imagining themselves moving quickly and powerfully, like running through a forest or flying like a bird. This type of mental imagery can energize the mind and body, increasing engagement and focus during therapy. Guided imageries for kids can be found here: Guided Imageries for Kids.
Mindful Exercise/Movement
Mindful movement and exercise is a great way to build energy and up-regulate the body. Here are some ways to incorporate mindful movement and exercise into your practice.
- Mindful Walking: Try out different speeds of walking and notice the body as it moves through space. You can take kids outdoors and explore nature on their walk OR walk through the hallways using a Sensory Path, or walk around your room.
- Yoga Poses : Incorporate Animal Themed Movements: Cat/Cow, Cobra, Downward Dog . Tree pose, Warrior Pose, Chair pose
- Animal Walks: Bear Crawl, Bunny Hop , Crab Walks etc. are a great way to incorporate movement and heavy work into the day.
Incorporating Energizing Mindfulness into Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice
Occupational therapists can introduce up-regulating mindfulness exercises at the beginning of a session when a child appears tired or disengaged, or in between activities to refocus attention. These practices can be easily adapted for individual or group settings and can be tailored to the child’s preferences and sensory profile.
Pairing mindfulness with physical activity and sensory input makes it a versatile tool for helping children increase their energy and engagement levels, enabling them to participate more fully in therapeutic activities and daily life tasks.
Mindfulness can be a powerful tool for energizing in pediatric OT, helping children increase their alertness and energy levels. By incorporating breathing exercises, mindful movement, and imagery occupational therapists can help children become more energized and focused, supporting their overall participation in therapy and daily occupations.
Let me know if you tried any of these activities. I would love to hear what worked and what didnt!
Check out some of my other blog posts:
