Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

What young children can learn from Inside Out

Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
Conditions
August 2, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share

INSIDE-OUT-8-1940x1092

This summer’s Disney-Pixar movie Inside Out makes us think about our thinking. But, I wonder, first of all, “Can we even think about our thoughts?”

In fact, over the summer with campers at Lausanne Collegiate School, beginning with junior kindergarten to grade 7, I was teaching them how to observe their thoughts: a course in mindfulness and meditation for children.

We begin by sitting up tall, like a tree. Then we become still, like a mountain. Then we “go inside” like a turtle in a shell. By this time the children are sitting upright cross-legged on the floor or feet hanging on a chair, motionless as a statue with their eyes gently shut.

We begin the exercise by watching our breath: Each inhalation and exhalation, the in and out of the breath, like waves going in and out on a beach. Soon we transition our attention from our breath to our mind. And we watch our thoughts as if they were clouds in the sky. The children become mindful through the practice of meditation.

But the movie Inside Out is not about our thoughts or mindfulness; it is about our feelings or emotions. It is about a 12-year old-child, Riley, whose emotions of Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness are personified as characters who guide her through a life transition. At one instance, Disgust takes over when she has to eat broccoli, and at another time Anger causes her to have a temper tantrum and overwhelms her when she has a difficult time adjusting in school.

So how are thoughts and emotions related? Although we feel emotions every moment of every day, we often don’t realize that they are caused by our thoughts.

“What are thoughts?” a student once asked.

Thoughts are brief mental events, which can be an observation (a summer sun), an idea (walk into the shade), a judgment (it’s cooler in the shade), or an opinion (avoid being out in the sun). They differ from emotions, which are a state of mind, often the collective impact of our thoughts (feeling upset for having to stand in the heat.)

Thoughts are like ripples or waves on the surface of a body of water and emotions are the collective body of water at that time. In our day to day hectic lives, we do not routinely recognize our thoughts, but we can feel our emotions. Mindfulness helps us become aware of our thoughts and realize that we have the ability to choose the direction, the duration and intensity of our emotional responses.

Understanding the interplay of thoughts and emotions can be insightful. For example during our meditation one student seemed to intentionally tap his feet, disturbing the group. Some became angry while others did not.

Why is that the case? Why can the same trigger cause different levels of anger or lack anger in different people?

I asked the students, “Does anger happen to us? Or do we make anger happen?” They get it. They see how anger is a product of our mind and not our environment, though the environment can be a trigger.

The key, I tell the young campers, is to know that you have control over your mind, which houses these thoughts and emotions, just like you have control over your arms and legs, and just as you have control over your breath.

ADVERTISEMENT

Being inside your/their own mind, during the first time meditating, can be an unsettling feeling for youngsters — even adults have trouble grappling with this. Maybe if we start early enough we can better control our emotions through observing our thoughts: We can manage our anger, avoid succumbing to our fear, handle our sadness and find peace and serenity in our day-to-day joys of life.

Manoj Jain is an infectious disease physician and contributor to the Washington Post and the Commercial Appeal.  He can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Manoj Jain. This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post.

Image credit: Forbes.com

Prev

Despite the problems in health care, most of us still care

August 2, 2015 Kevin 3
…
Next

Young physicians must take a leadership role. Here's why.

August 2, 2015 Kevin 2
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Despite the problems in health care, most of us still care
Next Post >
Young physicians must take a leadership role. Here's why.

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Manoj Jain, MD, MPH

  • 3 steps to a better health care system

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
  • How this physician transitions to becoming an empty nester

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
  • Health care in American is on life support, and the future is uncharted

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH

Related Posts

  • When celebrities attack children with food allergies

    Lianne Mandelbaum, PT
  • Bullying immigrant children in the name of politics

    Linda Girgis, MD
  • A disturbing study about children and guns

    Christopher Johnson, MD
  • What medicine can learn from a poem

    Thomas L. Amburn
  • Separating children at the border is a danger to their health

    Oscar J. Benavidez, MD
  • Structure case conferences as a primary way to teach and learn

    Robert Centor, MD

More in Conditions

  • The hidden battle of weight loss: Why dieting alone isn’t enough

    Richard A. Lawhern, PhD
  • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

    Frank I. Jackson, DO
  • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Airlines’ policy ignores your do not resuscitate (DNR): Discover why and some ways to protect yourself

    Althea Halchuck, EJD
  • How coaching transforms care for people with multiple sclerosis

    Jessica Singh, MD and Liz Kiniry
  • Integrating vitamin education in mental health care

    Scarlett Saitta
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • 35 years in the ER and the search for an honest life [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How truth depends on where you stand and what you see

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • 35 years in the ER and the search for an honest life [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden battle of weight loss: Why dieting alone isn’t enough

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Conditions
    • Why terminal cancer patients still receive aggressive treatment

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Physician
    • How doctors can build emotional strength through writing

      Carolyn Roy-Bornstein, MD | Physician
    • When medicine surrenders to ideology

      Anonymous | Physician
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • 35 years in the ER and the search for an honest life [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How truth depends on where you stand and what you see

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • 35 years in the ER and the search for an honest life [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden battle of weight loss: Why dieting alone isn’t enough

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Conditions
    • Why terminal cancer patients still receive aggressive treatment

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Physician
    • How doctors can build emotional strength through writing

      Carolyn Roy-Bornstein, MD | Physician
    • When medicine surrenders to ideology

      Anonymous | Physician
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...