Ready, Safe, Go: Mentally Preparing for Back-In-Session Learning

Children have experienced lots of life changes since the coronavirus pandemic began, and there’s another shift coming on the horizon––preparing for back-in-session learning. Whether heading back into the classroom, adjusting to online courses or settling into homeschooling, children may experience a spectrum of emotions, ranging from excitement to anxiety + fear. Honest has partnered with MyLife, a family-friendly meditation resource, to help you and your child navigate the big emotions that may come with these changes and adjustments. MyLife’s app is thoughtfully designed for children as young as 4, and we’re excited to be able to offer you free access––look for the code at the end of this post!

You probably are feeling a melting pot of mixed emotions. This is natural and to be expected. You will probably continue to feel them for years to come, quite frankly. Parenting is a roller coaster ride and no one is immune to the ups and downs that come with it.

Here are a few tips from MyLife's upcoming "Working with Big Emotions" Journey within the app, designed to help both parents + kids alike. We’ve also linked to a few in-app activities directly, to help you navigate MyLife and explore its many specialized tools.

Anxiety + Stress

It’s common to feel stressed and anxious before a new school year, especially during a global pandemic.

Initiate a conversation with your children. Let them know that all emotions are natural + okay! Talking through our feelings with loved ones helps us feel supported, and allows us to better process them.

Anxiety can feel like butterflies in the stomach, not wanting to eat, or having a hard time falling asleep. It can also lead to frustration and anger. When you or your little one has these feelings, focus on something other than your worried thoughts. To help reset, try MyLife’s Cooling Out Breath activity with the whole fam.

Social Connection

Many children benefit from creative activities to help them express and communicate their feelings in a safe, supportive environment. Join your little ones for arts + crafts, and discuss each work of art for more insight.

To help ease this period of adjustment, discuss these changes with your child in advance. Explain that there are many different ways to connect with one another, and feeling shy or lonely is perfectly normal (even in familiar settings). MyLife’s Just Like Me activity helps make it easier to connect with others, and ease some of those feelings of awkwardness and sadness.

Checking In

Many children benefit from creative activities to help them express and communicate their feelings in a safe, supportive environment. Join your little ones for arts + crafts, and discuss each work of art for more insight.

Your little ones might also be experiencing a build up of anger, and anger can feel scary; the trick is to learn what to do with our stronger feelings when we feel them coming up. Chat with your children about how it feels for them physically; maybe their hearts beat faster, faces turn red, or fists + jaws tightly clench. MyLife’s Listening on Purpose session can help us focus our attention on something outside of ourselves to help us cool down and relieve some of that physical discomfort.

Promoting Happiness

COVID-19 may be impacting your child’s mental health, and it’s important to help them understand that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed at times. Support their mental wellness by practicing kindness + compassion, and encourage your child by helping them choose something to look forward to.

Kindness makes it easier to handle our big feelings, and life’s ups + downs. It helps you be a better friend, and work together with all kinds of people. Practice making kindness a habit by tuning into Kindness with Every Step on the MyLife app.

Gratitude allows us to recognize life’s goodness. It’s natural to feel grumpy or angry; worried or nervous. Whether our triggers are easily identified or seemingly out of the blue, remembering a few good things that make you feel happy + grateful can help you restore balance + calm. Practice with MyLife’s Three Good Things.

MyLife is happy to offer free access to the app, to help ease the transition this fall for you + your fam. Use code: [playlearnheal] when downloading the MyLife app by 10/21/20 for a 1 month premium trial!