This blog explains why I wrote my second book, The Gateway – Junior Edition. Over the last twenty-five years I have studied many healing systems from Japan, India and China which I use and practise today. These are the techniques that I pass on to families and young people to improve their well-being. These Eastern cultures work from a view that the mind and body is interconnected and should be treated as a whole – holistically. Every technique, activity, story, meditation or game in this book is something I have tried that has worked in schools, in one-to-one sessions, or within my own family. I wanted to share this in the form of a book that could be easily picked up and implemented into every-day and school life. There are over 30 resources, most are free or cost very little to implement.
Building resilience
The only constant in life is change, life is always changing – we have to accept that suffering and hard times exist and how we manage that will help us to get through in the best possible way. It is important to teach children to understand, recognise and process emotions to support their emotional and mental health to grow into balanced and positive adults. From a young age in the West we are taught the opposite of mindfulness. We are constantly wanting, always looking and working towards the next thing, wishing it was the weekend, counting down the days to our holiday and working hard to buy stuff we don’t need, perhaps to overcompensate, and working to live. Do we really want our children to follow this pattern?
The issues we face today are not new, what has changed significantly is the world in which we live and the speed at which we live our lives. Most of my young clients find their way to me because some part of their lives has become disrupted and out of balance which then manifests as anxiety more often than not. Equipping yourself and the children in your world with fun, affordable, time honoured techniques in the form of mindfulness, an understanding of feelings and emotions, learning about the way in which the brain and the body work together, adopting gratitude and compassion, and using meditation and creative skills can all empower us in a fast moving modern world.
Publication January 2020 Priced £12.99
Available from www.gaildonnan.com