by Michael Bernzweig

Mindfulness activities and meditation are becoming increasingly popular in schools, sports clubs, colleges, universities, and workplaces. Fun mindfulness activities like mindful eating and breathing can benefit everyone, whether you are trying to improve your focus or level of relaxation. There are so many wonderful, fun mindfulness exercises that there is something for just about anyone and every occasion imaginable.

Some unique mindfulness activities for people of all ages and abilities include: 

• Mindful Gardening
• Music Appreciation
• Blindfolded Movement
• Deep Seeing/Deep Perception 
• Deep Listening
• Outdoor Exploration
• Mindful Movement
• Coloring

Mindfulness guided meditation can be extremely helpful whether you're stressed out at work, overwhelmed at home, or feeling anxious around others. An ancient practice, meditation reduces stress and anxiety and increases happiness for many years. Mindfulness meditation can make a difference in your brain function and mental health. Let's look at some of the most unique and fun mindfulness exercises and activities for kids and adults.

Mindful Gardening

Mindful gardening is a simple, accessible activity that can help improve your mood while you connect with nature. Kids especially may find this activity interesting and fun. A mindful activity like gardening includes hoeing, planting seeds, pulling weeds, and harvesting crops that can be performed with any type of tools or bare hands. All you need to do is work mindfully with your surroundings to take care of the garden.

Other options include:

• Mindful weeding or pruning
• Allowing your bare hands to feel the warmth of the soil
• Taking breaks to appreciate the view of gently feeling your feet touching the ground beneath you. 
• Practice mindful eating with fresh vegetables from a garden
• Working with kids and teens to start a garden

Considerations for those with disabilities include finding different ways to manage tasks depending on your physical needs. For example, if you have trouble bending over in the garden without pain or injury, try arranging for an in-ground garden so that you can stand while working.

Music Appreciation

Music appreciation is a fun mindfulness activity that can be done at any age by anyone and can be paired with meditation. Music appreciation may involve listening to music or playing it on an instrument. It can mean actively participating in music appreciation, such as joining your school orchestra or band, learning how to play the guitar, or attending live concerts put on by local bands and musicians for charity events. 

This activity can be used as social emotional learning for kids and those that can benefit from social activities. This mindfulness activity can relieve stress, anxiety, and stress-related symptoms in adults. 

Music appreciation can help you practice mindfulness by:

• Helping you focus your mind on the present moment and become aware of where you are and what is going on around you; 
• Encouraging relaxation by putting your body and mind at ease;
• Giving you a chance to slow down and appreciate the passage of time.

Suppose you would like to experience music appreciation as a mindfulness activity. It is more about enjoying the experience than learning how to play an instrument or performing in front of other people in that case.

Blindfolded Movement

Blindfolded movement is a mindfulness activity that encourages self-awareness and relaxation. This activity is designed to encourage mindfulness by helping you focus your mind on the sensations of the movement rather than on where you are going or what you are doing. 

Kids of all ages and abilities can benefit from practicing mindfulness, as it provides you with a unique way to appreciate your surrounding, as well as a unique way to teach mindfulness and for them to be aware of their own minds. The blindfolded movement will increase your other senses and help you focus more on yourself. As a meditation practice, you can use this regardless of your age.

In this mindfulness activity, you will learn what your body can do, how it feels when you use a new skill, and how to reduce anxiety. There are two ways to learn something new. Our focus is either on avoiding errors or ensuring everything is perfect.

This exercise encourages us to learn about our bodies by focusing on the actual physical movements and sensations during the task itself rather than worrying about possible mistakes or failures. By practicing mindfulness and becoming more aware of what our bodies can do and how they feel as we perform an action, we enable ourselves to understand what works best for us physically.

Deep Seeing/Deep Perception 

Deep seeing or deep perception is a mindfulness technique that closely observes external objects. It can be practiced by picking any physical item in sight, whether an object or something seen directly through vision. Deep seeing can be an excellent meditation practice, be sure to bring attention to deep breathing, and focus on an item in your mind or just your breathing. It all starts with a deep breath and a thoughtful, deep breathing exercise to focus your emotion, zen and overall gratitude. If you want to jump in with both feet, consider taking advantage of some instructor led mindfulness training at mindful schools near you.

You can focus on positive affirmations with this simple mindfulness exercise. Visualize this object in your mind and notice all the little details about it. Then try to imagine ways you would change it if given a chance. There are no limits to how long one should spend on this activity, but most people will experience their best results by performing deep seeing for at least half an hour per day over a period of seven days.

A Body Scan Meditation practice focuses on the breath as a form of mindfulness practice. The practice of this type of meditation has been shown to reduce stress levels, improve concentration, and increase focus. Guided meditations or audio recordings are often used to teach mindfulness practices. These techniques allow you to follow along at your own pace.

Deep Listening

Another common mindful practice is mindful listening. This can be done while hearing sounds around you or while actively listening to another individual speak. When doing the latter, try thinking about the present moment and what's being communicated rather than thinking about how it's being communicated. When listening, be sure your breathing is regulated, and bring close attention to your slow deep breaths, slowly breathing in, then out. 

Deep Listening can benefit individuals by helping them better understand the thoughts and feelings of others. It can also be helpful with the emotional control of different emotions. One additional simple mindfulness exercise to do in conjunction with deep listening is mindful breathing. 

Outdoor Exploration

Outdoor exploration can be used as a type of fun mindfulness activity that benefits people in several ways. Some individuals benefit from it because it provides them with outdoor time, mental rest, and increased focus, while others benefit from it because it calms them and makes them feel at peace. Outdoor exploration is a great activity to do with little ones, older kids, and teens.

A few specific examples of ways that you can mindfully interact with the outdoors include:

• Scavenger hunts with kids
• Treasure hunts with kids
• Metal detecting
• Relic hunting
• Mindful walking
• Hiking
• Biking, and more.

Many exceptions can be made for those with disabilities. For example, those with vision impairments can participate in outdoor exploration through touch and other sensory activities. At the same time, someone who is deaf may use sign language or writing to communicate.

Despite the American Civil War ending over 150 years ago, there are still plenty of relics from that time. Searching for Civil War relics is a great hobby if you enjoy historical artifacts and metal detectors. In 1842, an accident led to the discovery of the first known relic. When John Hays was plowing his field near Nashville, Tennessee, he struck something metallic. It turned out to be a musket ball after he dug it out of the ground. As a result of this discovery, he began looking for more Civil War relics.

Mindful Movement

Mindful exercises like mindful movement are one of the most popular types of mindfulness activities to reduce anxiety and help kids focus in school. It can be done indoors or out and employs various meditative movements such as stretches and yoga poses. Mindful awareness and movement are easy and provide mental and physical benefits. You can also

The mindfulness movement is ideal for any age and ability and can be done by kids, teens, and adults alike. While the basic mindful movement is an excellent mindfulness activity for anyone to try, there are also other options for those looking for fun mindfulness practice opportunities that we can partake in. Mindful breathing exercises and meditation can be done during this activity to bring attention to the present moment. Mindful breathing is one of the most helpful exercises that anyone can benefit from. More activities related to mindful movement can be found in these related posts. 

The purpose of walking meditation is to direct your attention to the sensations of movement. It's not about achieving anything or changing anything; rather, you're just noticing how walking feels. Walking meditation can take many forms. Others focus on the positive emotions and sensation of each footstep, while others focus on the breath, and still, others focus on the entire body.

Coloring

Coloring is an excellent mindfulness activity for kids and anyone of any age and ability. It is easy to learn, provides great relaxation benefits, and can even be done as a meditation exercise with kids starting at preschool age. Depending on their attention span, this can be an ideal activity to help younger children focus. 

Some ideas to make a school’s mindful activity more fun is to include: 

• Glitter
• Paint
• Mindfulness games
• Cut out shapes and more.

When choosing what type of coloring book to use for mindfulness activities, choose an abstract design rather than an image that you or your child may see regularly. This will help the activity feel more unique, which helps promote mindfulness.

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