There are so many ways to cultivate concentration. Without this premise, everything else is useless.

After giving birth to Su Bao two years ago, my shoulders and back were sore from time to time. I thought it was caused by holding the baby and breastfeeding, so I went to the hospital for one-on-one postpartum care. My masseuse is an American grandmother in her 60s or 70s. After taking care of me for a while, she said that 70% of the reason for the pain in my shoulders and back was \”too shallow breathing.\” She told me that many new mothers are tired due to busy work, and their breathing is habitually short. The upper body muscles cannot relax, and over time, their necks, shoulders and backs will become stiff. This situation can be quickly improved by fully opening your chest and training yourself to breathe deeply. After chatting with this old lady, I learned that she not only has more than 30 years of postpartum care experience, but is also a professional physical therapist for ADHD children. She told me that many children now have attention deficit disorder to some extent even if they do not have ADHD. Many parents take their children to physical therapy and ask anxiously as soon as they enter the door. The book says not to disturb the children\’s concentration and to control screen time. We have done these things, but why can\’t the children still sit still? In fact, the premise of not disturbing concentration is that the child must first be able to concentrate. As for cultivating concentration, many people have ignored a fundamental key: when the child\’s brain is not supplied with enough oxygen, it is difficult to concentrate. To ensure sufficient oxygen supply to the brain, one has to pay attention to these two things: First, maintain a correct posture. Going to the open day of Su Bao Kindergarten happens to be the circle time of the top class, which is when the children sit in a circle, sing, and listen to picture books. type activities. When the teacher said Give me Five, the children sat down cross-legged consciously, with their hands on their knees and their backs straight, a bit like a meditating posture. After class, I asked the teacher what Give me Five was (she obviously didn’t mean to ask the children to high-five), and she told me that it was a secret code between them, which meant the following five requirements: 1. Sit cross-legged 2. Put your little hands down Good 3. Ears are listening 4. Eyes are seeing 5. Close your mouth. Later I found out that many kindergartens and lower grades of elementary schools in the United States use this code to remind children that it is time to study. Sitting cross-legged can help the child\’s body quickly enter a state of concentration. Only when the body returns to the correct position can the mind be ready to learn. If the chest is held and the back is arched, the lungs are not opened, which affects breathing, affects the oxygen supply to the brain, and causes lack of concentration. Su Bao\’s kindergarten class is basically composed of children around 3 years old. The teacher will use a simpler code to prompt them to sit properly, called Criss-cross Applesauce (criss-cross means sitting cross-legged). When I read picture books with Su Bao at home, I often use this very rhyming code. It is a ritual for us to \”enter the state\” before parent-child reading. As the saying goes, stand like a pine tree and sit like a clock. Good posture adds more points to children than just their appearance. Second, habitual deep breathing is the same as gross movement and fine movement. Breathing is a skill that babies learn slowly from birth. Newborns generally have short breathing because they need constant practice to gradually develop regular breathing. However, if a child has habitual shortness of breath for a long time, the brain will be at a level of insufficient oxygen supply, which can easily cause fatigue, anxiety, and lack of attention. American Academy of PediatricsThe AAP explicitly recommends that parents and teachers encourage children to meditate, and the key to meditation is to focus on breathing. Breathing is a process of constantly connecting with one\’s own inner world. Many scientific studies have shown that deep breathing can not only help children concentrate, but also reduce anxiety and stress, even reduce obesity and enhance immunity. Regular outdoor exercise can help children practice deep breathing unconsciously and gradually form a habit. When I do yoga, Su Bao also likes to bring a small mat to participate. I will take the opportunity to teach her to take deep breaths, inhale through the nose for 3-4 seconds, pause for 1-2 seconds, and then slowly exhale through the nose or mouth. come out. I often play a small game with Su Bao at home to practice deep breathing: take a natural scented candle, let Su Bao inhale deeply first, smell the aroma of the candle, and then exhale, as if pretending to blow out the candle. When you carefully observe a focused child, you will find that their chest is open, their shoulders are sunken, their back is straight, their breathing is slow and even, and they are completely immersed in their own world, which is a very beautiful state. High-quality parenting is a process of constantly exploring the essence of things: our body is like a machine. The so-called \”not disturbing the child\’s concentration and providing opportunities for solitude\” are operational skills, but allowing the child to have a brain with sufficient oxygen supply is It\’s like plugging in a machine. No matter how important the operating skills are, the important premise of powering the machine cannot be ignored.