Meditation with Kids can be short and sweet for little ones or full classes with older ones. Kids like movement and they love singing bowls. Children are also keen on examining nature and animals. Incorporating simple yoga stretches with guided meditation is easily done with children of school age. Incorporating a few minutes of meditation into gymnastic or martial arts classes is a natural fit. After school programs or school PE, are great avenues for teaching yoga in the same way they would teach any sport. With more mature children taking them to adult yoga classes is totally doable. Their hearts and minds are open to experience and explore the world. I find they don’t have the reticence that adults have to engage in something new. I took my 9 yr old grandson to a restorative yoga class that involved complicated postures as well as chanting, singing bowls and meditation. He fully participated, expressing himself freely. All of the adults in the class were charmed and impressed.
Singing bowls emit waves of sound that bypass the thinking brain and directly affect the visceral body. The use of singing bowls allows for sound waves to directly capture a child’s attention while the sound sooths the body into a state of inner stillness. With a single child or small group, you can engage their interest by placing a bowl on their belly and the sound will tingle their body as it vibrates. Once you have their interest, they are very willing to quietly lay on the floor and listen intently to the singing of the bowls. They will drop effortlessly into meditation.
Meditating even for just 10 minutes a day can be a powerful asset to older children with school and sports. Guided visualization, yoga and meditation are very beneficial as tools to improve performance and deal with stress. Olympic athletes maintain that meditative visualization is essential to top performance. Recently my 17 yr old granddaughter went to a sports camp. In her final evaluation she was advised to learn meditation and visualization.
With young children I find 1-1 time stacking tiny rocks out in the yard, uses the elements of awareness, tactile feeling and quiet patience. All of these are characteristics of Yoga Nidra Meditation. Painting is effective with some children as it allows their feelings and imagination to rise up and quietly flow through their painting. Painting rocks for the garden opens their creativity. They become focused, and interact with the rock exploring shape, texture and color. Give the child multiple colors of paint and brushes, bowls of sparkles and allow them to paint freely. Be present but don’t lead them. Sit back and be prepared to be impressed with the quiet creativity that flows out of them.
Meditation is generally a quiet, deeply relaxing time. Quiet, snuggle time with the family cat or dog is an excellent and natural meditative time for very young children. Recently, I watched my 6 month old grand son discover the textures of the family Basset hound. I sat by and watched him touch and intently look at his hand as he wondered at what he was feeling. He explored the feel of the deep rich coat of the dog as well as the mouth and the feel of getting doggie kisses. He was absorbed in what he was discovering. Absorption is a hallmark of deep meditation.
Stretching in yoga postures along with Mom, or just playing in the same room while Dad sits in meditation is a subtle way to predispose a child to yoga and meditation for later in life. Teaching small children to breathe with you is a good way to help them develop coping skills they can use when frustrated. But beware, children absorb more quickly than you realize. Recently I had to laugh when my 5 yr old granddaughter was frustrated with a craft project. Her daddy told her to take a deep breath and she replied, “Quit trying to teach me to meditate, I’m trying to paste this paper.”
One week later this same 5 year old was talking about her day at Kindergarten. She mentioned she meditated. Curious we asked if the teacher was teaching them. “No, It was time to get quiet so I meditated for 2 minutes.”
Meditation is actually a natural state that children will enter as they explore their world with wonder. Teaching them to intentionally enter this state is not complicated. Use their natural environment with activities that utilize simple techniques of focus and relaxation. Seeing, smelling, touching incorporating the senses into quiet moments of deep examination is an accessible and fun way to learn to meditate. Slow, flowing movement and deep resonating sound are great tools. And most importantly, you yourself, relax! Cultivate an inner state of peacefulness within yourself, and the teaching will flow naturally and beautifully. Enjoy the journey.