66: Mindfulness Practices for ADHD with Dr. Christopher Willard

Mindfulness and meditation can be beneficial for children with ADHD, as well as for anyone in the family. But what's the best way to get started, and how can we make mindfulness practices enjoyable for children so they actually want to participate?  In this week's episode of the Soaring Child, Dr. Christopher Willard joins the show. He is a clinical psychologist, an author, and a consultant based in Massachusetts. He's spoken in 30 countries, and he has presented at two TEDx events. He is an author of 20 books, including Alphabreaths, Growing Up Mindful, and How We Grow Through What We Go Through. His thoughts on mental health have been featured in New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, cnn.com, and many other places. He also teaches at Harvard Medical School. Tune in to this episode to discover how mindfulness can benefit you and your child with ADHD.    Key Takeaways: [4:11] Why Dr. Willard first became interested in mindfulness and meditation  [7:40] How breath is a superpower  [11:37] Benefits of mindfulness that are not always talked about [15:40] How to make mindfulness more fun for kids [21:13] How often Dr. Willard exposed his own children to mindfulness  [26:13] What to do when visualization is more difficult for someone  [29:51] How adults can bring mindfulness into their daily lives   [32:31] A challenge to the listeners   Memorable Moments: "If we can regulate our breath, we can regulate our body…If we're regulating our body, we're regulating our nervous system. Our brain is the biggest part of our nervous system. And then we're regulating our impulses, our attention, our emotions, all of these things that everybody struggles with, but kids with attention issues and executive function challenges really tend to struggle with." "Just by shifting the way that we breathe, we actually can shift our attention and shift gears and meet the moment for what's required of us." "If your computer's not working, what do they say? Hit the reset button. It works 90% of the time. We humans have a reset button for our brain, and it's in the bottom of our lungs." "I know how to create stressed out, miserable students who are unfocused. You just surround them with stressed out, miserable distracted parents and teachers and adults… If we want our kids to be well regulated and present and focused and mindful we need to surround them with adults who are  doing this." "Mindfulness is contagious. Focus is contagious. Calm is contagious. Self-regulation is contagious." "Finding these ways to keep ourselves well-regulated…that's actually more important than saying to your kid, 'Go do some breathes'…because then they're learning it through modeling, and they're learning it experientially." "This is at least as important -  if not more important -  for parents and caregivers as it is for the kids themselves." "What matters with mindfulness is not that you know 20 different ways of meditating but that you know 1 or 2 that are going to work for you…and a few of those that you can share with your kids."   How to Connect with Christopher Willard Website: https://www.drchristopherwillard.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drchriswillard/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drchriswillard  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchriswillard/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/drchriswillard    Dana Kay Resources: Website: https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ADHDThriveInstitute/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdthriveinstitute/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ADHDThriveInstitute  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adhd-thrive-institute/mycompany/  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/adhdthriveinstitute/  Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adhd_thriveinstitute    International Best Selling Book, Thriving with ADHD – https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/book/  Free Reduce ADHD Symptoms Naturally Masterclass – https://bit.ly/3GAbFQl   ADHD Parenting Course – https://info.adhdthriveinstitute.com/parentingadhd ADHD Thrive Method 4 Kids Program – https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/packages/