Mindfulness classes for parents benefit their kids, too

Parents, picture the situation: Your child is misbehaving. You’ve had a hard day, and one more outburst sends you over the edge. You threaten. You yell. Maybe you announce a punishment so over the top you know you won’t, and shouldn’t, follow through.

"That’s reacting based on emotions," explains Liliana Lengua, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. "Not in the way you know you’ll be effective."

What is effective, Lengua says, is practicing mindfulness: staying calm, seeing a situation from other perspectives, and responding in an intentional way.

Kim Eckart-Washington

Mindfulness classes for parents benefit their kids, too