This month, we explore some practical principals for teaching children the value of living a life guided by mindfulness-based principals. Aligning our lives with spiritual laws puts us in touch with the mechanics of nature, which encourages the practice of asking the universe to support us with success and abundance. As we all know, success achieved on the basis of struggle may bring good things to us, but the inner fulfillment we seek from these things will be lacking. The earlier we are taught how to live in the most effortless, harmonious, and creative way, the more likely it is that all of life will bring success. This is what we – as parents and teachers – are asked to pass on to our children.
Children are inquisitive, spontaneous, and they love to play. Teenagers are in need of guidance, encouragement, inspiration and support. So where can we start with teaching our children some of the most fundamental values of living a happy life? Let’s first begin with understanding the importance of teaching children and teenagers from their current level of awareness.
Derived from Deepak Chopra’s book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, the Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents is a fantastic resource for parents and teachers of children alike.
Sunday’s Law: Everything is possible.
Today is the day of pure potentiality
- Practice silent meditation (for children 5 years and older: approximately one minute for each year of the child’s age)
- Spend time in nature
- Encourage children to see new perspectives and reach for new possibilities (example: a willingness to be open to the point of view of others and to not pass judgement on others)
Monday’s Law: If you want to get something, give it.
Today is the day of giving and receiving
- Invite children to give one thing to someone else in the family
- Inspire them to receive graciously
- Share a brief ritual of gratitude for life’s gifts
Tuesday’s Law: When you make a choice, you change the future.
Today is the day of karma
- Ask children to talk about some choice they made today
- Show them how our future was changed by a past choice they made
- Explain right and wrong in terms of how choices feel
Wednesday’s Law: Don’t say no – go with the flow.
Today is the day of least effort
- Encourage children to find the game in at least one task
- Reduce the effort it takes to accomplish something important
- Look for ways nature has helped us
Thursday’s Law: Every time you wish or want, you plant a seed.
Today is the day of intention and desire
- Have children list clearly all their desires for the week
- Teach children to release their desires for nature to fulfill
- Pay attention! Teach the children to be alert in the present moment, where all fulfillment occurs.
Friday’s Law: Enjoy the journey.
Today is the day of detachment
- Ask the children to talk about the “real you”
- Show them that uncertainty can be good – no one has to have all the answers
- Teach children to feel balanced about loss and gain
Saturday’s Law: You are here for a reason.
Today is the day of dharma
- Invite the child to inquire about where they are
- Ask the child to identify something they are good at, or how they are unique
- Encourage the child to do something kind for someone else (service)
A child raised with spiritual skills will be able to answer the most basic questions about how the universe works; she will understand the source of creativity both within and outside herself; she will be able to practice non-judgement, acceptance, and truth, which are the most valuable skills anyone can possess for dealing with other people; and she will be free from the crippling fear and anxiety about the meaning of life.
There is only one spiritual difference between the innocence of children and the innocence of grown-ups: we grown-ups are innocent with understanding – and that is what we are meant to impart, while retaining the pure, fresh, pristine quality that comes with true knowledge.
An International Bestselling Author, Lifestyle and Leadership Coach and speaker, Tris Thorp is one of today’s leading experts in the field of personal growth and leadership development, specializing in emotional healing, women’s empowerment and shadow work.
Having spent a decade traveling the world, being trained by and sharing the stage with Dr. Deepak Chopra in the field of social emotional learning, consciousness and mindfulness-based practices, Tris has a real gift for integrating the ancient spiritual teachings with modern-day science and mindfulness to help people all over the world let go of their past and create an empowered new future.
During her tenure at the Chopra Center, Tris apprenticed under the Chopra Center’s co-founder Dr. David Simon, co-facilitating the Healing the Heart and Emotional Freedom workshops alongside him. Prior to his passing in 2012, Dr. Simon appointed Tris as the person to carry on his teachings in the field of emotional healing. In addition, Tris was fortunate to be mentored by the late Debbie Ford prior to her passing in 2013, which is where she continued her extensive studies of the unconscious mind and concepts of the persona and shadow. After the loss of her two mentors, Tris went on to become certified through the Ford Institute as a coach specializing in Shadow Work and reconciling mental and emotional issues stemming from past experiences. She continues to share the gifts of emotional healing and facilitating this work in the footsteps of her former mentors.
Tris is the International bestselling author of Healing Your Heart: Rewrite Your Story with Awareness and Intention. A guide book to understanding your emotions, how we create our story and workable tools and techniques to heal from the past, Healing Your Heart stewards you through the process of releasing mental and emotional baggage, forgiving yourself and others, setting and enforcing boundaries and consciously communicating your needs in a loving and effective way so you can be who you’re meant to be, do the things you want to do and have all that you deserve to have in this life.
Tris is also the co-author of bestseller Mental and Emotional Release® with Dr. Matt James. Written in a language both professionals and non-professionals can understand, Mental and Emotional Release® offers real life case studies, an overview of MER and its foundation, step by step scripts to follow, and clinical efficacy studies comparing MER to other therapies.
Clearly in her dharma, Tris’s passion and dedication to gently guide people on their inward journey through personal growth is evident in her work as a Lifestyle and Leadership coach, Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release and workshop facilitator. She teaches various courses on leadership development, personal empowerment, social emotional learning and higher states of consciousness – both in online courses and her certification programs, live workshops, VIP retreats and 1-1 clients.
Tris Thorp is Board Certified by the Association of Integrative Psychology as a Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release ®, Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, and Mental and Emotional Release ®, a Certified Reiki Master, and an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance.
Tris is devoted to inspiring and empowering others to cultivate and maintain mindfulness-based lifestyle practices that lead to greater clarity, purpose and fulfillment. Through one-on-one coaching, online programs and live events, Tris specializes in helping people to fully release negative emotions, limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns, enabling them to make quantum leaps into the life they are truly meant to be living.