One Simple Way to Teach Your Kids Intuition, Respect and Mindfulness

It's finally spring time! Flowers are abundant. If you are like me, I love to take walks in nature with the kids. Inevitably we pick a few wild flowers to savor and bring home.

My sweet girl communing with nature.
Photo by Venus Leah Photography

Here is a great way to teach your kids respect for nature (and all living things) and also introduce to them the concept of intuition. Before picking any flowers, plants, or taking anything from nature, demonstrate this to your child:

• Ask out loud to the flower, plant or special object in nature if it is okay to pick/take it.
• Let your child know you are closing your eyes and listening for the answer with your whole being.
• Then tell your child that you may not get a verbal answer from nature, but that you are feeling with your whole body for the answer. 
• If you get a bad feeling, your tummy feels strange, or something just doesn't feel right, then you will not pick the flower or take the object. Just simply move on and find another special piece of nature to ask. 
• If you get a good feeling, such as your heart seems to sing spontaneously, then indeed, go ahead and pick that beauty and take her home.

It is so important to model and demonstrate this process to your child. Monkey see, monkey do. 

If your kids are like mine, there is a natural tendency to go crazy wild fast at picking flowers. So encourage them to slow down, be mindful of each pick, and to take a moment to ask each flower (or each bunch of flowers) permission before taking.

Such a seemingly small "ritual" in nature, can have a deep lasting affect on children. It gives them the message that nature isn't just something to reap and conquer. It teaches them to respect nature, just like we teach them to respect other human beings by asking before taking. 

This small ritual is also a way to help children practice opening up their senses, and to trust their gut feelings and intuition in a safe place. There is no right and wrong answer, so there is no fear of failing, nor fear of any negative consequences.  

Intuition is one of those important, hard to teach things. So this is a simple, wonderful way help cultivate it, while also cultivating mindfulness and self-centering.

Let me know how this works for you!

Namaste!