“Awakening Joy for Kids is an extraordinary gift for parents, teachers, and most especially for our children. James Baraz and Michele Lilyanna offer simple yet powerful teachings, which have the potential to transform our individual and collective lives. I highly recommend this book!”
—Shauna Shapiro PhD, Mindful Discipline and The Art and Science of Mindfulness

“This is a magical book. Like the Nutra-Grow we put on our plants to help them bloom, these practices really make Joy and Wisdom grow! What a wonderful nurturance for our children. “
—Jack Kornfield, PhD, The Wise Heart
 
“This beautiful book goes straight to the heart, so rich with simple, powerful, practical things that children and adults can do to grow real and lasting resilience, compassion, and joy inside themselves.”—Rick Hanson, PhD, Hardwiring Happiness and Just One Thing
 
“Awakening Joy For Kids is a treasure trove filled with creative, wise, accessible, and engaging practices, that’ll nourish you and the children in your life. Don't wait; start practicing now!”
—Dawn Scott, Family Program Coordinator, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre, California

“Chock full of easy and practical suggestions for finding joy — and peace! — as a teacher or parent, for helping children develop the skills they need for their own happiness. James Baraz is one the most important and inspirational happiness teachers alive today; if you have children or work with them, don’t miss this terrific collaboration with master teacher Michele Lilyanna.”— Christine Carter, PhD, Raising Happiness and The Sweet Spot, Senior Fellow, Greater Good Science Center
 
“The lessons throughout Awakening Joy for Kids are timely as well as timeless. Knowing what brings true happiness, ease, and well-being is an important wisdom to be passed on to next generations. Awakening Joy for Kids has gifted parents and educators with a fun and accessible guide to teach our kids the social and emotion skills they need to live fuller, well-rounded lives. “—Kate Munding, Founder of Heart-Mind Education, creating mindfulness training for teachers
 
“Awakening Joy for Kids is the new ‘go-to’ resource to help parents and teachers help children manage fears and worries and develop a deep inner wellspring of well-being. These lessons are fun, playful, practical, and easily adaptable for home and school. Well-organized and beautifully illustrated, Awakening Joy for Kids is ‘kid-tested,’ reader friendly, and life-changing. Highly recommended.”—Linda Graham, MFT, Bouncing Back
 
 “At once inspiring, practical, doable, and fun, Awakening Joy for Kids is for children and adults alike, making quality-of-life the highest priority. This book supports the development of the whole human being and is a much-needed addition to our curriculum for educating children in this world.”—Robert Gonzales, PhD, Co-Founder of the Nonviolent Training Institute, Past President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Nonviolent Communication
 
“Weaving together the discoveries of contemporary science with the real needs of children in classrooms and beyond, the authors have gifted adults everywhere a treasured resource. Central to the message is that all human beings have light, and we adults have a profoundly important role in ensuring we nurture an awakening of joy so that each child can grow and be all they were intended to be. I love this book!”—Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, Discipline Without Damage
 
“Fresh.  Friendly.  Fantastic. Finally. In this era of testing and achievement, Michele and James give delightfully practical form and direction to educators, parents, and all of us humans who care about equipping our children (and ourselves) to lead joyful, resilient lives.  Simple and profound, Awakening Joy for Kids is an inoculation against the maladies of fear and hopelessness that come when we lose track of our inherent playfulness, creativity, and wisdom.  An easy, accessible reference that I will generously recommend.”—Ann McKnight, LMSW, ACSW, TEDx talk on Restorative Circles --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Introduction

Setting Intention

One of the most powerful practices we can do is set intention. Setting intention is akin to putting the rudder on a boat to guide in stormy weather. It is also like using a map when going on a road trip. With either tool, you can change direction when you feel the need but you are on the lookout for a clear pathway to get you where you want to go.

Here is a story of a young student in my classroom that demonstrates the usefulness and power of setting intention as a daily practice. Nigel, a boy of eight, had a very difficult time socially. Every day there was an issue on the playground or a tussle in the classroom. He would go home and say, "Nothing good happens—ever." As you can well imagine, his parents were very worried. They would wait for his daily report on how bad things were and become agitated and scared. They came in after school sharing their frustrations and concerns. Both parents wondered if they should pull him out of school and teach him at home. They worked, so this option was not viable.

Along with other daily mindfulness practices, each day I worked with him to write in his journal one small thing that was good or brought him joy. Slowly his story changed. Bit by bit he acknowledged moments of joy and they started to build into something greater that he could write about in his journal. One day he filled a whole page. I also had him set intention for his day: To look out for the good things, like when another child asked him to play or asked him to be a partner in an activity. Lo and behold, when he paid attention, he saw that he was asked to partner and small things did go his way. When class-sharing time came, he was able to voice a special moment and smile. He expressed that everything wasn’t bad and he had shared good moments with peers in the room. The other children shared they had fun with him too. I saw him light up when he heard this mutual joy. At the end of the year, he decided to stay at the school as he had so many friends to play with at recess.

I also worked with the parents and suggested that instead of looking for a report of the bad things, they might ask him what was one good thing that happened. This reinforced and helped their son remember that there were good moments in the day.

I can’t say every day became easy for him or that all his struggles were gone, but he began to notice good things happen and he learned to set intentions to look for the positive rather than the negative. This chapter offers you a variety of ways to set intention with yourself and your family. For teachers, the lessons easily translate into morning classroom practices. We invite you dive in and try these practices while noticing the difference that finding the "good" makes in your days. --This text refers to the paperback edition.