Jelke

A few years ago, a burnout brought me to a standstill. Mindfulness helped me find my way back. I learned to slow down and to enjoy the little things again. So when I came across Eline Snel’s training to become a children’s mindfulness trainer, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. I signed up that very same day.

When I stood in front of my first group of four-, five- and six-year-olds, I was nervous. “Miss, weren’t we going to chill?” one of them asked. During the very first exercise, a girl looked up in surprise: “Miss, I heard a little squeak in my tummy!” When a boy stepped out of the circle because it all still felt a bit too new and daunting for him, I didn’t force him to come back. Afterwards we talked about it together and agreed that next time he could hold our frog puppet and sit right next to me. After that, he never left the circle again.

With every lesson my confidence grew, and the children’s discoveries kept amazing me. A girl studying a raisin discovered tiny ridges she had never noticed before. Another girl proudly shared that she had shown the breathing exercise to her big brother at home. And when one child found an exercise boring, I learned that even that is worth exploring: what does boredom actually feel like in your body?

I do this work because I want to give children what I would have loved so much to feel myself: the trust that all their feelings are allowed to be there, and that they can be proud of who they are. During a recent lesson, a child tugged at my sleeve and said: “Miss, I think you’re so lovely!” In that moment I knew: this is exactly where I belong.

As a child, I struggled a lot with my self-confidence and was often searching for who I was and which path was right for me. That search taught me a great deal and made me who I am today. That’s why I find it so important that children feel seen and heard, so that they can be themselves with confidence and dare to follow their own path.