Contents
by
Sunita Rai,
PsyD
With a Foreword by
Christopher Willard,
PsyD
MY FIRST BOOK OF
MINDFULNESS
Enhance your childs social emotional health
through mindfulness, art and home experiments
2020 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Published in 2020 by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
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Acknowledgements
I am thankful to each and everyone of you who has inspired me to
write. Yes, this includes you who have picked up this book. Without
you, this would not have materialised.
My clients in my psychotherapy work had asked me years before
to write on how to work with their children, especially in challenging
times. Thank you for your suggestions and confidence in me. To
the thousands of students whom I have lectured and supervised in
your counselling and psychological work, thank you for nudging me
numerous times to share my experience beyond the classroom. Your
encouragement is invaluable. In fact, a lot of what I write here is
based on my experience in the classrooms, workshops and in the
therapy room.
To all my psychology, counselling, mindfulness, meditation and
philosophy teachers, thank you for imparting your knowledge to me
and your ever-flowing guidance. The fruit of your labour lies within
these pages and beyond.
To Hernie Khames-Martin and Anya Sengupta, thank you for your
creative artwork for this book. I remember sharing what I wanted
to do in this book and my ideas for it and you both managed to
seamlessly bring these ideas out in every one of the images. Thank
you. This book is also dedicated to your hard and heart work.
Most importantly, I thank my parents, who were there for me. They
were definitely not perfect and probably didnt know much of the
strategies here, but they always tried their best to provide for all of
their children. They had very little comforts, and so would always
encourage us to study. Without their insistence on education, I would
not have developed myself this far and taken on the dream of being
an educator. Yet that was not enough for me and I decided to be a
practitioner and an educator so that I could marry these two worlds
together. I am very grateful for that. And thank you to my siblings,
especially my sisters, Rita Rai and Sumen Rai, who always watched
over me and guided me in life. We played so many creative games
in our younger years and I bring some of those experiences in this
book. And not forgetting my husband, Kathirasan K, for believing in
everything I do and encouraging me to write.
To each and every one who has helped me to get these ideas into
writing, THANK YOU.
Foreword
In times of challenge and change, parents and child professionals
can feel helpless about finding ways to support their childrens
development. And yet, no times in history were without such
challenges, and still parents found ways to help their children thrive
through curiosity, creativity and more.
In our time, Sunita Rai has come up with a wonderful book
and approach to help guide our kids through growing up with art,
mindfulness, positive psychology and more, all contained in this
wonderful book you are holding in your hands. While the world around
may be swirling with chaos, in the pages of this book children can
discover and reconnect with stillness and strength within themselves
and bring that to difficulties they encounter. From compassion and
self-compassion, to mindfulness and awareness, acceptance and
fun, kids and adults alike can explore so many concepts that most
of us never learned until adulthood, if we ever learned them at all.
Whats more, the book introduces these through creative writing, art
and reflection.
Ive always believed that the best books for young people speak to
both adults and children. While this book has dozens of simple and
sweet activities and reflections for kids, when practised with a parent
or trusted adult, the benefit doubles and conversations can begin to
