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The Secret to Engaging Kids in Mindfulness

by | Apr 1, 2025 | Parenting, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

The Power of Curiosity

Hello Friends!

This week, I’m excited to share more about how to help kids (and ourselves) grow the resource of mindfulness. I get excited when I talk about how to best help children grow the resources of mindfulness and self-compassion. Why?

2 reasons:

  1. I know that Mindfulness and Self-Compassion helps kids (and grown-ups) A LOT with their mental health and overall well-being.
  2. I know how to help you make learning mindfulness and self-compassion FUN!

What could be more wonderful!?

Last month I shared about what mindfulness is, and how we can help kids practice Mindfulness (aka the “Spots” habit) more in daily life. Today I’d like to highlight a way that we can make mindfulness more fun for kids: invoke curiosity!

The Curiosity Exercise

When I teach my parent-child mindfulness and self-compassion class or work with kids in school, I bring a coconut oil box with a little chick hidden inside for our first lesson. I tell children that I have something small, soft and yellow inside the box, and I invite them to guess what it is.

Kids eagerly raise their hands, and I ask them if they feel curious. When they say, “Yes!” I invite them to notice what curiosity feels like in their body.

After a series of guesses, I open the box and out comes “Curi,” my curiosity chick. Curi the curious chick appears in all of the comics throughout my workbooks for kids, and accompanies the classes and kids through mindfulness and self-compassion lessons. Curi helps us be curious about our feelings, thoughts, and five senses.

Cultivate curiosity.

Curiosity is the secret to teaching kids mindfulness. Without it, mindfulness feels like a chore, but with it, mindfulness feels interesting and even fun.

Playful ways to practice mindfulness—Find the ant!

Something else that appears throughout all the comics in my books is a little ant named Anty. Anty is shy, so she is hidden in every comic. Looking for Anty engages kids and makes learning fun.

You can look back at a couple of workbook comics I’ve shared here and here, and try to find the ant.

When kids are looking for ants, they are seeing on purpose (practicing mindfulness). But they don’t even realize it because curiosity drives their engagement.

Here’s a page from the Land of Mindfulness in Volume 1 of the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids that helps kids become conscious of the power of curiosity.

Curiosity is a Superpower

Did you find all ten ants? Notice how easy it is to focus when you’re curious 🙂

I have two more playful mindfulness ideas to share, but I don’t want to make this newsletter too long, so I’ll save them for a future newsletter.

As a reminder, the playful comics and characters are also a part of my parent-child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class. You can learn more about my parent-child class here.

Next class starts April 28

I appreciate your curiosity and interest in helping kids (and yourself) grow the resources of mindfulness and self-compassion.

Wishing you curiosity and love,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. My daughters and their friend performed at an open mic night last week at a local inn. I feel prateful (proud and grateful) for my girls’ courage and talent!

Maya and Anjali performing music.

Thank you for being on this journey with me.♥️

Be a Part of the Solution

by | Mar 27, 2025 | Parenting, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

Self-compassion can help children suffer less

Hello friends!

I believe with my whole heart that diverse communities and societies support everyone’s well-being, and there is research to support this truth. When we devalue individuals from marginalized groups, it hurts us all. And when we appreciate the contributions of diverse groups, everybody’s life becomes richer! Please scroll all the way down for ways that you can help self-compassion reach all children, including those from diverse groups.

Help self-compassion reach all children, including those from diverse groups.

I have a beautiful podcast interview to share with you today. I interviewed Veronica Diaz—a mother, a naturalized American citizen, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers teacher, engineer and project manager, and a woman with a passion for helping EVERYONE, including Spanish-speaking children, develop the resource of self-compassion.

Be a Part of the Solution Podcast with Veronica Diaz

In our interview, Veronica shares about the oppression that she and many other Latinos have encountered both in the US as well as in their countries of origin. She also shares self-compassion tools that can help to soothe and empower. We discuss the effects that anti-immigrant rhetoric has on minority groups, as well as her efforts to help Spanish-speaking children discover self-compassion, both in the United States and abroad (more on how you can help in the next section). You can access our heart-warming and insightful conversation on YouTube (below) or your favorite podcast app!

Help bring Self-Compassion to Spanish-Speaking Children

If your heart breaks when you hear about about Spanish-speaking children and families experiencing fear and oppression in the US and abroad, and you wish to help, there’s something you can do. Veronica Diaz and Mercy Bedoya-Shiekh have started a fundraiser to make the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids accessible for children in Spanish. You can help self-compassion reach Spanish-speaking children here: https://mcst.betterworld.org/campaigns/Help-Spanish-Speaking-Children.

Donate to Help

Valuing Linguistic Diversity

Last year, many of you donated workbooks that I gave to children at Fratney Elementary School. There were so many grateful children—thank you! I have been volunteering at Fratney this year teaching lessons from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volume 2 (release date Jan. 2026), which kids are highly engaged with each week!

Part of what makes Fratney amazing is that it’s a 2-way bilingual school. In a 2-way bilingual school, half of the students that attend the school are native Spanish speakers, and half of the children who attend the school are native English speakers. These two groups of children learn both Spanish and English side-by-side, and everyone ends up bilingual. It is so beautiful!

Midnfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volume 1.

I studied Spanish in high school and college, and I remember my first experience encountering an individual who spoke only Spanish. While my Spanish was wobbly and imperfect, we were able to have a conversation, and I could sense that beyond linguistic differences, this individual had a beautiful culture entirely different from my own, and I felt drawn to learn more.

I studied abroad in Ecuador my Junior year in college, and I minored in Spanish. Later, I became a bilingual teacher and wrote my Masters thesis on helping children grow up bilingual. I continue to teach in both English and Spanish, and I dream of sharing the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids with diverse English and Spanish-speaking children both locally and abroad when Veronica and Mercy’s fundraising efforts are complete!

Parent-Child Self-Compassion Class in English and Spanish!

This past year my colleague Veronica and I have been teaching the Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class for a research study funded by a Mind and Life grant. We are getting phenomenal feedback from course participants, and have found significant decreases in anxiety for children taking the class with their parents. I can’t wait to share the full study results with you when we publish them! I will be teaching my next English-speaking Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class in May.

Learn about Parent-Child Class

The Mind and Life grant includes funds for teaching the parent-child class in Spanish. Veronica and I will be teaching our first Spanish-speaking cohort of the Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class in April. You can register below if your family speaks Spanish and/or share this opportunity with any Spanish-speaking families you know who have children between the ages of 8-11. The April Spanish-speaking cohort is fully funded by the grant, so it’s free for participants.

Autocompasión para Niños y Cuidadores

We are in it Together

This mission is so much bigger than any one class or book. It’s about helping all children and their caregivers suffer less through the power of self-compassion. Please share about this newsletter and our fundraising efforts with others. Together we can be advocates for children’s (and grown-ups!) well-being and work to ensure that no child suffers without resources.

With love and gratitude,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. Our family went on vacation earlier this week. It was beautiful, imperfect, and so much fun! Two highlights included a lovely meal at La Morenita, a small roadside restaurant in Indiana, and beautiful dune hikes—we did the the “Three Dunes Challenge” at the Indiana Dunes State Park.

Jamie-Lynn and Anjali
Jamie-Lynn with family

How Can We Support Diversity?

by | Mar 18, 2025 | Parenting, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

Supporting Neurodivergent and Racially Diverse Children with Self-Compassion

Hello friends,

I am passionate about self-compassion for youth because it can help children and caregivers suffer less. Suffering can have many sources, including life events, our internal experiences, and external oppression. Today I’d like to unpack the topic of suffering as it relates to diversity and self-compassion. And in next week’s newsletter, I will share more about what we can DO to help.

Supporting Children with Neurodiversity

My colleague Kate Lynch is the mom of a neurodiverse child, author, and the host of the Atypical Kids, Mindful Parents Podcast. Kate and I had a phenomenal conversation about how self-compassion can help us to raise neurodivergent youth with resilience. You can listen to our interview on this topic on Youtube or Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app to discover ways to help yourself and youth with neurodiversity (including ADHD, autism, learning, and sensory differences) grow this important resource.

 

“You will never know what it’s like”

In next week’s newsletter, I will be addressing the topic of linguistic and racial diversity.

I was talking to a dear friend the other day who was sharing her concerns relating to anti-diversity executive orders and rhetoric propagated by our current administration. “I understand,” I said to my friend.

“No you don’t,” she responded. “You will never understand. You will never know what it is like to be a woman of color living through this.”

I paused to soak in the truth of her words. “You are right.” I responded. And I listened.

Cultural Humility

It is with deep humility that I write this blog and share next week’s podcast episode on diversity and self-compassion. As a female, I have been on the receiving end of sexism (see my podcast episode on countering gender stereotypes), but I do not know what it is like to live with racial and linguistic discrimination. So I listen, I learn, and I care deeply.

Attending a small Catholic K-8 school in Green Bay, my early years were devoid of the enrichment of diversity. My horizons broadened somewhat when I went to high school, and they broadened even further when I went to college. It’s in college that I truly learned the value of diversity, including linguistic and ethnic diversity. I will share more about this journey next week.

In college I also took classes on anti-racism. This is where I learned to see many of my own unconscious biases. And this is why I try to follow the lead of individuals from diverse groups when it comes to justice movements.

Diversity in My Work with Kids

I frequently teach in Milwaukee Public Schools with children of diverse backgrounds, and when I created the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2, I was intentional about including diverse voices.

I asked children from diverse backgrounds to help me create and edit the book, which made my book richer for everyone!

Here’s a picture of the kids who helped to shape and share their personal experiences in the book:

Jamie-Lynn with kids who helped to shape and share their personal experiences in the book: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2.

And here are the delightful characters that appear in the comics:

Delightful characters from the book: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volumes 1 & 2.

I tried to incorporate racial diversity, gender diversity, and a diversity of feeling and thinking habits into my characters so that as many children as possible could see their own experience reflected in the book (see this article on feelings habits). I wish for all children to see and sense that self-compassion is for them!

What we can DO

Something I love about my community of readers is that we are all deeply committed to helping children suffer less through the power of self-compassion. Next week, I will unpack more about about how self-compassion can help us respond to diversity-related oppression, and also what we can ALL do to help. I can barely wait!

Thank you for being on team compassion and self-compassion with me, especially for the most vulnerable of our youth.

Wishing you light and love,

Jamie Lynn

P.S. Last weekend I got to go up North and spend time with my family. This was special for two reasons:

  1. My older daughter drove the car (her first long car trip driving!)
  2. I got to see my sisters and parents. I love my family!
Maya - Jamie-Lynn's oldest daughter driving.
Jamie-Lynn with her two sisters and mom.

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Mindfulness as a Resource

by | Mar 10, 2025 | Growing the Good, Parts of Ourselves | 0 comments

Sometimes we really need something to pull us back to the Present Moment

Hello Friends,

Have any of you found yourself flooded with difficult thoughts and feelings lately? If so, you are not alone. Many of us are going through hard times, and self-compassion is a resource that can hold us as we go through it.

When I’m struggling, often I need the kindness aspect of self-compassion, which I like to call “Snuggles” the bunny. Additionally, I need connection, which I call the “Buddy” habit. Connection for me might look like talking to a friend or spending time in nature. Moving my body (the “Doodles” Habit) and noticing small ways I have well-being (“Sunny”) are two other helpful habits. But today, I’m going to highlight the resource of Mindfulness, which I refer to as “Spots.”

The 5 resilience habit animals from my Workbooks for Kids and my Parent-Child class.

Note: These are the 5 resilience habit animals from my Workbooks for Kids and my Parent-Child class.

What is Mindfulness (aka the “Spots Habit”)?

In a nutshell, mindfulness is the ability to be present in the moment without judgment. As we are creatures of judgment, we can be mindful of our judgments, too. People often describe mindfulness as being calm, which is a bit of a misnomer (see my Mindfulness is Not About Being Calm blog). While mindfulness does make us calmer over time, we can be mindful of anxiety, anger, racing thoughts, body sensations, etc. We can be mindful of anything!

How do we practice Mindfulness in the moment?

A great way to practice mindfulness is to ground your awareness in your five senses. The mind will wander, and then you again bring your awareness back to the moment. You can pick any internal or external sense to notice, including the rhythm of your breath, your sense of sound, or your sense of sight.

Here I’d like to share a playful comic from the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volume 1. Sam is a character that often gets lost in thoughts (can anyone relate?), and one of Sam’s favorite things to think about is Legos. Notice how Sam is invited again and again to focus on the present moment.

A comin character - Sam who always gets lost in thoughts.

You can try this next time you go for a walk. Notice when your mind wanders, and then bring yourself back to your senses!

Taking a class can help both you and your child grow mindfulness and self-compassion skills. Join me in April for our next Parent-Child Mindfulness and Self-Compassion class!

Join me at a Mindfulness & Self-Compassion gathering

Each month my paid subscribers can join me for a gathering where we together grow our OWN mindfulness and self-compassion skills. Growing mindfulness and self-compassion skills in playful ways can help us to…
  1. Feel better in our own skin.
  2. Show up in better ways for our kids.
  3. Develop the skills and insights to effectively help our kids grow these skills.

Learn more

Please share with me in the comments how you like to practice mindfulness in daily life. And as always, thank you for being on this journey with me.

Warmly,

Jamie Lynn

Nurturing Self-Compassion in Children (and Ourselves!)

by | Mar 5, 2025 | Parenting, Resilience, Self-Compassion | 0 comments

Simple steps to help kids grow a kind inner voice

Hello Friends!

I’d like to reintroduce myself and welcome new friends to my blog. If you signed up for my workshop with Kristin Neff’s Community, you are in the right place (and if you didn’t you’re still in the right place ;)! I’m Jamie Lynn Tatera—educator, parent, and Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) teacher and teacher trainer. I have a passion for helping kids and their caregivers grow the resource of self-compassion to support their mental and emotional well-being.

     

    Jamie-Lynn with her daughters.

    My newsletter features excerpts from my Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, as well as wonderful tips for helping children and their caregivers grow their mindfulness and self-compassion skills.

    Next week, I’ll be sharing some exercises from the third adventure of my workbook for kids in the Land of Mindfulness. We’ll be exploring fun ways to help kids get curious about mindfulness skills and train their “puppy dog” minds.

    Today, I’d like to share an article that I wrote for the Global Compassion Coalition(GCC) on how to help children grow the resource of self-compassion. I hope you enjoy!

    Nurturing Self-Compassion in Children (and Ourselves!)

    In the wake of recent US legislation, it’s vital that we help children, especially children from marginalized groups, know their own value. Self-compassion is one of the best tools I know for helping kids understand that they matter, and empowering kids to believe in themselves.

    A simple definition of self-compassion is to treat ourselves as we would treat a good friend. This means that we comfort ourselves during our difficult moments, and we encourage ourselves to grow and change in positive ways. But just how do we help children develop this important skill? We can do this in several ways, including offering children our compassionate and loving presence, modeling self-compassion, and playfully teaching kids self-compassion.

    Be the voice you want children to internalize

    The way that we treat children matters. The words that we use with children can become a part of their own internal voice. When we tell a child they are valuable, and show them through our active listening and attunement, children internalize the belief that they matter. When we are able to balance holding high standards for children with acceptance and understanding of their struggles, children grow this same capacity within themselves. External affirming words and supportive actions become internalized and are a part of how children learn to respond compassionately to themselves.

    JL Note: When we fall short of this aspiration, we can give ourselves self-compassion and begin again. Our shortcomings offer us the opportunity to do the next step…

    Model self-compassion in the presence of children

    Caregivers can also model self-compassion to children. Every time a caregiver falls short or struggles in the presence of a child, we can also model self-compassion. If we have made a mistake, we can model both owning our mistake and also reminding ourselves that everyone falls short sometimes. If we are struggling, we can name out loud that it’s human to struggle sometimes. If we have a critical internal voice, we can normalize and name that, too. We can help children to be mindful of a critical voice, which is designed to keep us safe, and we can also model a second voice–the voice of compassion. Our compassionate voice says things like, “No one is perfect; I will try my best; I can do hard things.” Our modeling of a self-compassionate voice can help to shape a child’s own internal voice of kindness.

    Playful self-compassion instruction

    Finally, we can teach children self-compassion. I have created a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion program for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC), which is a playful, research-based adaptation of the Mindful Self-Compassion program. I have also created the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, which teaches children mindfulness and self-compassion skills using playful animals, characters, and the experiences of real children. Spots the giraffe teaches kids to be mindful of their thoughts, feelings and sensations, and Buddy the dog helps children realize that they are not alone in their struggles. Super Snuggles the bunny helps kids to comfort themselves when they are struggling and encourage themselves with kindness. Both the workbook and the course also feature Doodles the dolphin who helps kids take compassionate actions, as well as Sunny, who helps kids remember to take in the good.
    Animals from the workbook for kids.

    Victoria Brattini, GCC volunteer and founder of the Laguna Meditation Center, has recently been using excerpts of the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, Volume 1, with her adult clients. Victoria shares:

    “I’ve been encouraging adults to use the workbook in a playful way for themselves. I say just read it and let yourself feel the warmth and fun there. Years ago when I was desperate to improve my French and Italian, I asked another Mom who was from Austria how she had learned English. She had only been here for a few years and her answer was children’s books, games, shows, etc. She said it’s less intimidating and you feel a sense of accomplishment. Plus they are more fun. [This] book is playful and full of humor, and for the adult who has reservations about self-compassion or even trying to name an emotion, I think this book can make the challenge a little easier for them. Yes, it’s written for kids, and there’s good wisdom there for adults too. I’ve been encouraging my clients to play, laugh…and see the humor in life. Play is essential.”

    We can all benefit from learning mindfulness and self-compassion skills through play. Playful instruction, parental modeling, and the internalization of adults’ compassionate responding can all contribute to the growth of self-compassion in children. The important thing is that we, as caregivers, are intentional about nurturing these compassionate qualities in our youth…and in ourselves!

    Greater Good's Favorite Books 2024

    Thank you for being on this journey with me!

    With love,

    Jamie Lynn

    P.S. Last week I was gifted with the opportunity to teach “resilience habits” including mindfulness and self-compassion to caregivers in the Waterford school district. Here’s a very smiley picture of me sharing about the playful animals from my program between teaching sessions.

    Jamie-Lynn at Waterford School District presenting her book with stuffed resilience animals.

    P.P.S. You can scroll down to see some popular posts from last month.

    Where Self-Compassion and Social Media Collide

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    Unlocking our Parenting Delight

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    Do you ever feel like you’ve lost your parenting delight? Or maybe you feel like you never had it!? Certified parenting educator Dajana Yoakley helps us discover tools that can put the delight back into our parenting.

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    Piano Key Feelings

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