INDIANAPOLIS – Successful Indianapolis business woman Olivia Roney announced today she has released Your Chime – a mindfulness book and tool for children. Targeted for children ages 3 and up, the product comes complete with a custom chime bowl and an illustrated children’s book, which provides a step-by-step guide for children and parents on how to effectively utilize the tool.

Roney, owner of Indianapolis-based Crouching Tigers – a martial arts and character building development program for kids – first implemented the chime and mindfulness into her classes to help students focus, calm down and prepare to learn. The results in her classes were so profound Roney and her team spent the last year researching and developing Your Chime, which included in-home pilot programs and consultation with childcare professionals.

“I was absolutely amazed by the results almost immediately,” Roney said of implementing the chime – which only takes approximately 14 seconds to use – into her program. “Both in getting the kids to understand the concept and helping them calm down and improve their focus. The results were so impactful that it inspired the idea to write Your Chime – because I knew if we just tried to put the chime in the homes it would be very difficult to understand, so the book is instrumental in explaining how and when to utilize the tool.”

Illustrated by Adam Parsons, Your Chime is available for pre-order through a Kickstarter campaign (LINK HERE) which was created to accept orders while generating crowdfunding support for the product. The early reviews from both parents and child development experts has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Your Chime as it is a wonderful tool,” said Nerissa Bauer M.D., MPH behavioral pediatrician and the Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “I love the companion being an illustrated children’s book that gives parents and their children a story about how to use Your Chime and a way to signal to each other the need to use this tool. It is a great way to bring the entire family together in a positive way.”

The release of a mindfulness tool for children is timely – with a general overabundance of digital options (TV, video games, tablets, smart phones, etc.), and an overall increase in the amount of ADHD diagnosis in children, many kids are left overstimulated, inattentive, anxious and/or stressed.

“As an educator that’s been working with children for almost 10 years I experienced a huge shift in their ability to focus,” Roney said. “I tried a lot of different things over the years and meditation and mindfulness is something I started to put into my program a few years ago and I could see the positive results almost instantaneously.”

Roney is far from alone in experiencing the positive results.

“The chime is magical,” said Ashley Vance, an Indianapolis child and family therapist. “It is so beneficial and it has been amazing to see how kids have responded to it. I’m getting teacher reports that it’s working and parents are telling me that their kids are starting to tell them when they need a break. It’s amazing.”

While Your Chime has proven to be an effective tool in instilling mindfulness in children the benefits it provides to parents has been equally impactful. Not only has Your Chime provided a way for children to calm down, focus and breathe anytime they need a break – it brings a sense of calm to the whole family.

“I love the chime,” said Enza Kolp, a parent who participated in the pilot program. “As things get chaotic for me and the kids in our house we use the chime and we’re able to gather our thoughts and have a couple minutes to settle ourselves down. Lately my daughter has been asking for the chime – she loves doing it at night and I think it really helps to calm her down.”

“I have a daughter who has special needs and she can’t articulate when she’s mad or frustrated,” said Meredith Howell. “So we’ve started to use the chime with her and just the sound of it and knowing that we’re going to sit still has been really beneficial for her.”

“It’s almost instantaneous,” parent Heather Guess said of her experience with the product. “I’m unbelievably happy that we’ve found the chime, because outside of that it was just chaos. It’s exciting for us as parents because it changes our parenting style – to be better parents.”

“It’s not that kids lack the ability to calm themselves down,” Roney concluded. “It’s just that they lacked the tools – until now.”

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