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If you asked any parent what they wished most for their child in this world, their answers would all likely point to one word– success. In fact, most parents would do anything to ensure that their children live happy, healthy, and accomplished lives. Renee Vardouniotis and Angie Leitnaker continuously heard this sentiment from parents and teachers all over the world which led them to founding CAPE Movement, an all-inclusive mindset and empowerment program for school aged children. 

Through their program they simplify the sometimes complex world of social emotional learning, and illuminate the importance of mastering your mindset at a young age. Mindset is literally the setting of your mind, so learning to upgrade our mindset is like upgrading a computer– we have to be aware that it can always be enhanced. If children can learn to use this ability to master their mindset as a tool at an early age, it can work in their favor for every facet of their life for the rest of their life.

As a child, mastering their mindset looks like having a positive self image, perfecting social interactions, setting healthy boundaries, viewing the world through a positive lens, and understanding that life is a mirror. There are a few practices that CAPE Movement recommends kids start implementing into their lives as soon as they can. A few of these strategies are: 

1. I CAN CHOOSE PEACE: This strategy walks through a thumb to finger touch strategy that reminds children that they have control over their reactions. It looks something like this:  I (pointer finger taps thumb) CAN (middle finger taps to thumb) CHOOSE (ring finger taps to thumb) PEACE (pinky finger taps to thumb).
2. SHARK FIN: This strategy is for facilitating calmness quickly. Children should place their thumb on their forehead with the rest of their fingers sticking up like a shark fin. Then they close their eyes, sit straight, sit silent, sit still, and breathe softly. Each time you take a big breath in and out, we will move our thumb down first to the nose, then to the mouth, then to the chin, then to the chest. And then back up to the shark fin. REPEAT.
3. PIRATE EYE: This strategy is also for teaching emotion regulation. You cover one eye with your hand and breathe for three seconds. Then you switch eyes, covering the other eye and breathe for another three seconds.
4. WALKING THROUGH THE GRASS BAREFOOT: When walking through the grass, pay attention to how it feels under your feet. When you’re walking, think to yourself “Do I feel strong like a tree?” This is a grounding practice.
5. RAINBOW BREATH: Picture a rainbow in your mind. Start at the bottom as you go up over the arch of the rainbow, breathe out. Then go backwards over the arch of the rainbow and as you trace that arch back over, breathe in. This is a deep breathing exercise that kids can use for mindfulness, a coping activity, or meditation tool. 

Practicing these strategies with your child can help to kick start their journey of mastering their mindset. However, the most powerful tool that you can provide your child with is yourself. This is because children learn most through osmosis; even when they are at an extremely young age. 

Osmosis learning is learning that takes place in a natural way while sharing our lives with others. It is a form of learning based on the observation and imitation of the behaviors and abilities of others around us. While maturing children observe the actions of their parents, teachers, and peers this most. Therefore, it is those three entities that they can attribute their skills to later on in their life. Learning by osmosis often results in imitation and repetition, or rejection. 

This makes it imperative to be conscious of how you model important skills such as emotion regulation, coping skills, and grounding practices. Modeling these, and other mindfulness strategies in your everyday life, is an extremely important asset that will emphasize the importance of them to your child. Help them to walk through life using these skills naturally by emulating what they have seen you do their entire lives.  

If you’re interested in learning more about your role in your child’s success at mastering their mindset, or finding permanent solutions for social, emotional, physical, or educational knowledge gaps you can book an appointment here to connect with the CAPE team about how their mindset programs can fill those gaps and provide permanent solutions for your child.