the mindful child

The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate

By Susan Kaiser Greenland

The mindful awareness techniques have helped millions of adults reduce stress in their lives. Now, children—who are under more pressure than ever before—can learn to protect themselves with these well-established methods adapted for their ages. Based on a program researched by UCLA, The Mindful Child is a groundbreaking book, the first to show parents how to teach these transformative practices to their children.

When children take a few moments before responding to stressful situations, they allow their own healthy inner compasses to click in and guide them to become more thoughtful, resilient, and empathetic. The step-by-step process of mental training presented in The Mindful Child provides tools from which all children—and all families—will benefit.

Available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle, audiobook

Available for purchase on:

Amazon Barnes & Noble Indie Bound Books-a-Million Spanish Translation for Kindle

reviews & endorsements

“I was especially impressed with Kaiser Greenland’s approach to teaching young children mindfulness, and her technique might be as helpful for teaching a child not to itch a mosquito bite as it is to encouraging a lifetime of reflection and meditation.”

— Library Journal

“Parents often ask me for advice about being mindful with their children. From here on out I will refer them to this tremendously helpful book, filled with clear insights about children and how to teach them gently and skillfully. A truly inspiring book.”

— Sharon Salzberg, author of Loving Kindness the Revolutionary Art of Happiness

“The Mindful Child is a masterful work that weaves the wisdom of ancient contemplative practices with the insights of contemporary neuroscience within captivating stories of the author’s journey to bring mindfulness to young people and their teachers.”

— Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Co-director, UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and author of Mindsight and The Mindful Brain

“Susan Kaiser Greenland is the real thing. She is not just teaching young children how to focus their attention more effectively, the secret to how to control their own brains; she is teaching children how to become wise, way before most kids generally understand the value of wisdom. This is a most important book; any parent who cares about raising good, morally responsible children must read it.”

— Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, UCLA faculty, author of The Mind and the Brain and Brainlock

“What a wonderful and timely antidote to the hyperactive culture that makes kids super-wired but too disconnected from themselves and others. Every parent should read The Mindful Child for practical strategies to teach boys and girls how to manage stress and pay attention to what really matters.”

— David Walsh, Ph.D. Psychologist and author of Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen and No. Why Kids-of All Ages-Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It

“In her delightful book Susan Kaiser Greenland offers parents an alternative to materialist culture by cultivating attention, emotional balance, and compassion. Filled with engaging stories and playful activities, her dedication to making classical themes accessible to all children is evident throughout.”

— B. Alan Wallace, President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

“This useful manual will help parents and their children practice mindfulness together, whether they’re seated at the dinner table or on meditation cushions.”

— Yoga Journal

“Mindfulness is not a luxury, it is at the heart of our lives. Susan Kaiser Greenland brilliantly demonstrates how mindfulness can give a child a major tool to flourish throughout his life.”

— Matthieu Ricard, author of Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill

“One of the best books on mindfulness for kids that I have read. Practical and accessible. You can feel Susan’s years of experience and dedication.”

— Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart and The Wise Heart

“A superb and imaginative distillation of the essence of mindfulness made available to children, parents, and teachers in age-appropriate, wise, and playful ways. Sets a high bar for further work in the rapidly growing field of mindfulness in K-12 education.”

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine emeritus, UMass Medical School and author of Letting Everything Become Your Teacher and Wherever You Go, There You Are

“There are all sorts of great books about helping children by improving parenting skills and communications—things outside the child’s skin. The Mindful Child is a different kind of book! Readers will envision themselves being more effective with children rather than working with them. Susan Kaiser Greenland emphasizes directly changing the inside rather than encouraging the inside change from all that seeps in from the outside. This unique author delves into the heart of developing character, and coping skills that enable children to resolutely and effectively handle difficult situations through a more relaxed self- awareness.”

— Foster Cline, author of Parenting with Love and Logic

“In this lovely book, Susan Kaiser Greenland gives parents practical ways to keep alive curiosity,compassion, and the timeless nature of childhood when raising children in the high-tech, frantic pace of life in the 21st century.”

— Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry Founder and Director, Mindful Awareness Research Center, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior