In a previous article entitled “Mindfulness and Meditation for Beginners,” the numerous health benefits of practicing a mindful existence are detailed. In brief, mindfulness creates a sense of contentment and comfort when coping with chronic conflict. A predominant method recommended for the cultivation of mindfulness is meditation. While meditation is a valuable tool in the development of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health, many of the common meditation techniques may not be appropriate for children.
Children, like adults, deal with a multitude of stress. In terms of fundamental stressors, children are continually maturing. From birth to adulthood, kids undergo years of growth: language proficiency, motor facility, brain maturity, and sensory awareness. Common experiences such as hunger, fatigue, stimulation, pain, noise, and temperature shifts can cause varying amounts of stress to a child. Even more, social dynamics may be quite stressful: changing family composition, pacing and achievement pressures, violence and conflict, and disorganization.
Teaching mindfulness to children is an extraordinary way to help them generate esteem, cultivate calm, and deal with difficulty.
Meditation for Children—3 Simple Exercises
A. Drawing Meditation
1.Sit down with your child in a quiet, comfortable spot
2.Allow your child to pick one object in the room to focus on
3.With your child, look at the object and describe what you see
4.Have your child draw the object as best she/he can
5.Together, descriptively compare and contrast the drawing and the object
6.If your child seems finished with the exercise, then you are done—if not, continue...
7.Now, choose a different place in the room to sit
8.Look at the object again from this alternate location
9.With your child, look at the object and describe what you see
10.Repeat the exercise until you feel your child feels like she/he is finished!
B. Reporting Meditation
1.Toward the end of the day, sit with your child in a quiet, comfortable spot
2.Ask your child to go through the day in his/her mind
3.Next, have your child narrate the story of his/her day
4.Help your child identify the order of events chronologically
5.Repeat back what your child has detailed and allow him/her to clarify, correct, or confirm
6.When the conversation feels complete, you are finished!
C. Body Meditation
1.Lie down with your child in a quiet, comfortable spot
2.Ask your child to name the parts of her/his body, one by one, from foot to head
3.As your child names each body part, have her/him describe how that particular body part feels
4.After you each say how your body feels, move/wiggle/twitch/shimmy that body part in different ways
5.Help your child identify each major body part as she/he moves up the body
6.For each part, complete all three steps: naming, feeling, moving
7.When your child and you have reached the top of your heads, you are done!
“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.”
~ Hodding Carter
For more information:
Sensational Meditation for Children
Comments
So simple, yet so elegant. Thanks for these very doable suggestions!
I agree with the comment above. I am going to do some of these things and report back. very cool.
Nice article. I wonder how these steps would be applied to children who suffer from ADHD.
As a new parents, I love this stuff. Even if not all of it works, it's so cool to be able to try this type of thing and get some insight on what stimulates or bores or agitates or excites your child. This really looks like healthy stuff to at least try, and I'm really looking forward to it!
It's great to teach kids to quiet themselves. They are such realistic suggestions. --Jill
Hi LN! You pose a great thought. In fact, more and more research points toward significant benefits of meditative practices for all persons, young and old, who have been diagnosed with ADD & ADHD. Furthermore, meditation has shown to be of great value to individuals coping with all sorts of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual ailments.
Thanks for showing how easy it is to introduce mindfulness to children.
Best, Brigitte
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