Imagine's Mindful Parenting Course
We are thrilled to announce that this course is now scheduled and open for registration!
We invite parents and caregivers of children (up to age 18) to join us in a weekly rhythm of self-compassion and community this Fall. The course will focus on "returning to ourselves" - — cultivating the steadiness, warmth, and presence that allow us to show up for our children, especially in the hard moments.
Each class will blend formal meditation practice, gentle teaching, and both small- and large-group sharing — a structure that lets us both go inward and feel held by the group. Sharing experiences can be a very centering and healing practice and will be a focus of the course. In our Imagine community we can also learn from and tap into experiences from different cultures. Curiosity and compassion will stand at the center as we participate in realizing a world in which we respect one-another and together create a healthy world for our children and ourselves.
No prior meditation experience is required.
Mondays
4 PM CET / SAST / 7:30 PM IT / 8 AM MT / 10 AM ET
​
August 31 (Orientation Meeting - 75 minutes)
September 14 through October 19 (Six Classes - 75 minutes.)
​
Instructors: Merel de Boer and Summer Meyer
Registration Process
​
$50 Registration Fee and suggested Sliding Scale Participation Donation
​​​
-
Fill out and submit the Registration Form for this course. After you filled out the Registration Form, you will automatically be directed to a page where you can pay the nonrefundable $50 registration fee.
-
After paying the fee, you will receive an email confirmation for the registration and one for the fee.
-
Our instructor will reach out to you via email for a reminder or a short call.
-
After that point of contact, you will receive a direct link to our participation donation page to contribute (this is due 1 week before the start of the course).
-
Make a filter in your email for @imaginemindfulness.com so you'll receive all our correspondence.
Choose the Participation Tier that feels most aligned with your current situation.
Your presence is what matters most.
​
FOR THE 6 WEEK COURSE
​
Supported – $15 per class ($90 total)
For those who need some financial flexibility. This tier is for you if the other tiers would be a stretch right now—your presence is valued and welcome.
​
Sustainer – $28 per class ($168 total)
This tier reflects the true cost of the course. Choose this if you're able to meet your needs comfortably and want to sustain the program’s ongoing work.
​
Supporter – $42 per class ($252 total)
For those with financial abundance who want to help fund access for others. Your generosity makes this community possible for all.
Custom – Choose Your Rate
We trust you to choose what’s right. If none of the tiers feel like the right fit, you’re invited to contribute an amount that aligns with your current financial situation. Every contribution supports the course and the community.
​​
Registration fee is paid upon submitting registration form.
Please contribute participation donation 1 week before the course starts.​
Registration and part of the participation money goes back to Imagine, to further our work as a nonprofit while the remainder will be evenly distributed among our team of instructors.
Course Resources
The curriculum is based on the following resources - which we encourage you to explore before and during class. Check out what speaks most to you first.
When the Whole World Tips (Celia Landman)
​
Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children (Thich Nhat Hanh)
​
Self-Compassion for Parents (Susan M. Pollak)
​
The Power of Showing Up (Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Parenting Resources
links to sections below
Recommended COURSES to check out.
Yoga for children. Screentime that gives kids superpowers.
App and website - based in Australia - geared towards CHILDREN age 5 through 12
Research Based Mindfulness Program for ADOLESCENTS
Endorsed by Jon Kabat Zinn
Articles and Research
Parenting strategies are shifting as neuroscience brings the developing brain into clearer focus. Behavioral Scientist Nancy Weaver has published several paper related to childhood.
Meditation holds the potential to help treat children suffering from traumas, difficult diagnoses or other stressors – a behavioral neuroscientist explains.
(this article is from the news site The Conversation and also contains great links to different kinds of RESEARCH)
Ten Ways to Teach Mindfulness to Kids
Teach Kids About Mindfulness With These Everyday Objects
Guided Meditations for Children
Annaka Harris, New York Times bestselling author of the children's book I Wonder, coauthor of the Mindful Games Activity Cards, and a volunteer mindfulness teacher with Inner Kids, has some wonderful GUIDED MEDITATIONS on her website.
You could use these meditations to listen to with your child or use them as inspiration for your own versions!
Annaka's work explores consciousness, neuroscience, and physics, and has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Nautilus, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and IAI Magazine. She is also a science editor, consultant, author of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and creator of the audio documentary series Lights On.
Neurodiversity
Imagine keeps up with the research on neurodiversity within mindfulness and the world at large. When we came across this book while designing our Parenting Course, we thought we'd share.
​
While the book is intended as a guide for K-12 educators to better understand neurodivergence and help neurodivergent students thrive, the information and practices within are useful for all of us. ​
(Click on the book's image for link to website and buying options.)
Recommended Books
(click image for a link to goodreads)
Body Scan for Children​
“Decorations”
​
(by Summer Meyer)
The story I told both my daughter and my son was called “Grandma’s Jewels” - we pretended to have found a chest of jewels in their grandmother’s closet and would try on those treasures. It was always something we did to help them fall asleep, but this body scan can be done anytime your child is ready for some calming down time. It will also enable your child to pay attention to their body and to become familiar with their body, how it feels, how emotions might be stored in different body parts. The “story” itself can be adjusted to appeal to whatever your child is interested in - you can cover many different storylines, from dressing up to go to a ball as a princess to getting ready to join a pirate party. Make it personal to your child and weave your own details around the outline of this story. You can use as many or as few words as you are comfortable with or as your child likes to hear.
Ask them to lie down on their back and close their eyes. Tell them you will be telling them a story that will help them relax / help them go to sleep / make them familiar with paying attention to their body as you will gently be touching/stroking parts of their body. Bodies love this, and every part of their body will soften as it is touched. (You could also use the imagery of using a magic wand if that appeals to them.) It is important to clearly state your intention for this meditation - be it falling asleep, relaxation, becoming familiar with how their body feels, etc. Energy follows thought!
Below is described the progression from feet to head and back down again. If you follow the Grandma’s Jewels storyline, pretend to pull the items out of the chest and proceed to “put them” on that body part. You will probably only need to do this for the first couple of times you do this meditation and only for the first few items, because your child might “peek” and still be alert. After a while they will know how it goes and close their eyes.
Gently and lightly touch or stroke the body part that is “receiving” the jewelry or piece of clothing … as you are talking about it.
FEET TO HEAD
(You can also do this HEAD TO FEET. Starting at the feet introduces that sense of "grounding", but sometimes the busy mind might need attention first. )
-
Feet: Toe rings/pretty shoes/pirate shoes - gently “put them” on their feet, one foot at a time, touching each toe, the bottom, the sides, and the top of the foot
-
Ankle: Bracelets
-
Legs: Pants, a skirt, stockings - gently stroking the lower part of the legs, front/sides/back, moving up to the upper part, front/sides/back
-
Waist: A belt full of jewels, or a pirate belt
-
Torso and Arms: A beautiful blouse/vest/coat, with long arms - touch belly, going up chest, to shoulders, down the arms, one by one
-
Hands: Gloves (kids love this one!!) - pay attention to each individual finger, palms of hand, top of hand, wrists …rings as well if desired
-
Neck and Shoulders: Necklace or Scarf
-
Face - name lots of details here (some examples)
-
Sun screen / fun make-up
-
Lipstick
-
Nose ring
-
Earrings
-
Eye shadow
-
Rouge on cheeks
-
Eyebrows
-
-
Hair: Needs to be styled / a fancy hat - comb with your hands through their hair, gently massaging the scalp
HEAD TO TOES
Going back down again will take up much less time. Do this even if your child has already fallen asleep. It is important to come full circle - your child’s body will “know” it happened.
With light fingertips retrace your previous journey, focusing on softly speaking the body parts, ignoring as much as possible the items that were placed there - so the attention is on the body, not the things placed on it. From shoulders to hips you can make some broad strokes on the left and on the right, one at a time or at the same time. Then go down both legs, one at a time. End at the feet - hold one foot in each hand and gently press with your thumb the middle of the sole.
Enjoy!
Imagine would love to develop this page more.
Please contact Summer with additional resources.