A child’s interesting behavior was observed. While sitting on the sofa, their hands continuously touched their face and head, twisting and turning, while their body moved up and down, legs shaking and constantly in motion.
A child visited our clinic. They were exceptionally bright and well-mannered. The child believed multi-tasking was a reasonable behavior with confidence. Although the child excelled in studies and seemed flawless academically, the parents were concerned about their scattered attention during homework, because the child did multiple homework and seemed distracted. However, the child thought such behavior was a good learning strategy.
It was the first therapy session. While quietly conversing with the child, their interesting behavior was observed. While sitting on the sofa, their hands continuously touched their face and head, twisting and turning, while their body moved up and down, legs shaking and constantly in motion. Of course, the child was completely unaware of these actions.
We suggested trying mindfulness with the child. Though they had tried it before, they didn’t seem interested and found meditation boring, not finding much significance to it. We started with the body scan mindfulness.
We guided the child to focus their attention, bit by bit, from the tips of their toes to the top of their head, on different parts of their body.
When the child felt the urge for various actions with their hands, feet, or other body parts, we asked them to simply notice it without moving and concentrate on the part of the body they were already focused on.
The child found it challenging. The child twitched and fidgeted as if electricity was passing through them.
After about five minutes of mindfulness, we asked the child about their experience. They expressed surprise and clarity, realizing they didn’t know they wanted to move their body like that, and they became aware of their body for the first time.
We named the behavior of twisting and touching their body after mindfulness as ‘Monkey Dance’. For homework, the child was tasked to practice the mindfulness.
The following week, the child no longer showed Monkey Dance.
