Follow Your Breath! A First Book of Mindfulness

As children, caregivers/educators, first responders, and citizens everywhere continue our fraught adjustment to a plaguing, persistent, planetary pandemic, appearance of a book about mindfulness is purposeful for enabling youngsters to manage anxiety and stress.

In Follow Your Breath!: A First Book of Mindfulness, part of the “Exploring Our Community” series, Ritchie uses child-friendly subject headings to focalize each progressive section of this mixed genre text (narrative and expository). The main text is divided into 13 captioned double-page spreads or chapters while the end matter consists of Mindful Games which offers three easy, action-ready games that aptly reinforce the mindfulness practices covered plus a concluding seven entry “Words to Know” list.

The opening section, the “Move to Mindful”[ness], identifies the main character, Pedro Rivera, and the supporting cast – Pedro’s mother and his friends, Sally, Yulee, Martin and Nick, plus the dog Max – settings/contexts and, the principal problem, Pedro’s feelings of anxiety triggered by the family’s upcoming move to a “new house.”

In the next chapter, “Think and Do”, Pedro’s mom, Sally, models the strategy of learning about the topic by using books along with “useful websites and really good apps”. Here, readers learn about the wide use of mindfulness, thus establishing credibility for the practice. Via exposition, the author states, “In a busy, stressful world, mindfulness allows you to be still and pay attention to the moment. And when you do that, you feel more prepared to the face the world!”

The focus of the third section is “Notice Your Body”. Pedro’s mom instructs a tae kwon do class at a community centre and invites “the kids to do stretches as the class finishes.” Noteworthy are Ritchie’s complementary, colourful pastel-coloured cartoons depicting differently abled, multi-age folks performing/practicing the activities. The factual portion teaches that “mindfulness is being of aware your mind and your body and that “[u]sing your body is one of the best ways to practice mindfulness”—something that requires “practice”.

The fourth chapter is entitled “Focus!” This, readers learn, can be achieved through “meditation” and in different ways as well, including, for instance, going on a quiet walk—a possibility that is accessible to most children. Here, text participants are informed: “When you are very focused on something, you’re being mindful. Mindfulness is a simple idea, but it’s not easy to do. Focusing on only one thing takes practice.” To demonstrate, Mrs. Rivera guides the children through a walking meditation saying, “Walk slowly. Focus only on your breath and each step.”

Later, Mrs. Rivera and the children head to another asset – the garden. Titled “Your Nose Knows”, this segment offers a lush and beautiful world (bees, butterflies, flowers and berries), where Rivera sharpens children’s mindfulness/focus by asking them to close their eyes, slow their breathing, and discern something distributed to them through the sense of smell and taste. Readers/listeners learn: “When you close your eyes, your other senses become sharper.”

The next section, “Are Not Your Feelings”, states the importance of paying attention to feelings. When the children’s visit to the garden is disrupted by rain, they are “upset”. Encouraged by Martin to be mindful about feelings, Pedro and his friends learn “to notice and accept the feeling—without trying to change it. Feelings often drift away, just like clouds in the sky.” And, as one child points out, “[w]e can play outside another time”—illustrating acceptance and openness to new, unending possibilities.

“Through the Rain” underlines the importance of being in the moment and “not letting negative thoughts block the way.” Showing empathy for children’s feelings about disruptions triggered by rain, Mrs. Rivera uses an analogy to illustrate “that a bird gets wet when it flies through the rain,” … “but that doesn’t stop it from going where it wants to go,” thereby, rendering the situation comprehensible, acceptable and manageable.

The eighth chapter, “Nature on My Mind”, spotlights Sally who “stopped to notice how fresh everything smells.” She exemplifies mindfulness—being in the moment by exhibiting an appreciation for nature as suggested by the heading and the exposition. It advises that “[j]ust being in nature can calm us. When we focus on the sights, smells and sounds of nature, things that worry us can be pushed aside.”

In “Be There, Be Aware!”, Mrs. Rivera and children have an indoor picnic, concentrating solely on the sense of taste. Mindful eating is accentuated—a way of underscoring the importance of being in the moment—and intentional in one’s focus.

“Breathe Deep and Sleep” finds Mrs. Rivera deploying the practice of body scan – “a great way to calm down before bed” – and guides youngsters through the process.

Pets and their potential contribution to mindfulness are featured in “Mindful Max”. Pets require attention “in the here and now.” Therefore, petting/touching and playing with/caring for them make it “hard to worry about the past—or a “big move tomorrow.”

“Be Wise—Visualize!”, the penultimate segment, counsels children to be “kind” to other people and to self-using “visualization”, that is, “…using our thoughts to picture something we want…” and Pedro and friends enact it.

The final spread, “Mindful Moving!”, locates Pedro in his new home, “trying hard to be mindful” as a way of feeling less anxious.” He now has “tools” to help him accept his feelings, and “being aware of what is happening right now.

Adopting a mental health-based, simplified approach, Follow Your Breath!: A First Book of Mindfulness offers comprehensible, serviceable, and timely tools for youngsters. Ritchie’s accessible vocabulary and delightful watercolour cartoon images are integral to this narrative and expository text. There has been no better time for a work on mindfulness and its usefulness for managing anxiety, stress, and promotion of well-being. Yet, regrettably absent is information highlighting the provenance of mindfulness – its roots and history in the East (e.g., India and Tibet) and specifically, in Buddhism. The information provided separates mindfulness from its genealogy. Non-hegemonic, racio-cultural/linguistic resources are employed without attribution, a questionable, colonial practice. In sites of learning, such as homes, schools, daycares and churches, we need to educate children more fully. Recent protests amid the planetary pandemic highlight the urgent need for respect, valuing/caring and acknowledging positive contributions from all groups to mitigate dehumanization, marginalization and racialization. Therefore, Follow Your Breath!: A First Book of Mindfulness , a visually endearing and opportune book, is best used in conjunction with trustworthy, developmentally appropriate factual texts about the history and teachings of Buddhism, the rich and profound source of mindfulness.