Good morning! Meditation has been shown to produce a relaxation response – lowering blood pressure, reducing stress and relaxing muscles. Why not introduce your children to meditation now? Guided meditation is the easiest way to teach meditation to children, as it calls on the incredible power of their imagination.
I like to begin by doing some stretches to help focus their attention. It works best if you do the stretches too:
- Stand up and reach your arms way up high, take a deep breath in, then exhale as you lower your arms to your sides.
- Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Reach your arms up high, taking a deep breath in, then exhale slowly, saying “Ahh…” as you reach towards your toes.
- Draw your legs in, soles of your feet together, into “butterfly” position. Take a deep breath, and as you exhale slowly, say “Ahh…” and bend forward towards your feet.
Next, ask your child to lie down and close her eyes. Take one or two deep breaths with her, then begin the guided meditation. This works as a sort of narrated journey into the imagination; as the narrator, try to keep your voice soft and speak slowly:
“Imagine that you are lying down on a beautiful, sandy beach. The sand is nice and warm, and you can feel the warm, soft sand on your back. The sun is shining, and it is warming your tummy. You feel so warm and comfortable. You can hear the sound of the waves crashing on the sand and it sounds really soothing. A beautiful bird with golden feathers flies through the sky overhead, and you watch it fly all the way over the beach and it keeps flying so far, until you can’t see it anymore. You decide to go into the water. As you walk towards the water, your feet sink into the warm sand and it tickles your toes. You step into the water and it feels cool and and refreshing on your feet. You wade out a little further and then float on your back in the cool water. You are floating in the water, and you feel safe and happy. The beautiful golden bird you saw before comes back and lands right next to you in the water. The bird dives under the water, and when it comes back up it is carrying a tiny silver shell in its beak. The bird gives you the tiny silver shell and then flies away. You go back to the beach and lie down on the sand, where it is nice and warm. You are feeling very relaxed, and you soon fall asleep. Now it’s almost time to wake up, and you are going to be back at home again. Take a deep breath, and then you can open your eyes and sit up.”
Afterward, you can do a few more stretches if you like to “wake up”
Do you meditate? I would love to hear your thoughts.
photo courtesy tanakawho
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I remember doing qi gong meditation with you Laura when you were just four or five years old. You were also having acupuncture to help get rid of your bronchial asthma. I would wake you up around 20 minutes before you normally had to get up. We would sit on the floor cross-legged, with our hands loosely held out from our bellies, a little below our belly buttons, and we would slowly breathe in and out as if the breath were going down and coming from our bellies. You usually started listing to the side every few minutes, your body wanting to go back to sleep. I would prop you up again. But we stuck with it for quite a few months, and between the acupuncture, herbs, and meditation, you never had another asthma attack. I love that you have introduced readers to meditation.