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Child MeditationOverview- This child meditation is great for kids of any age.- Kids typically have shorter attention spans than adults. Because of this, this meditation has more active components. - This meditation can be done with more than one kid at a time. This meditation can be set up as a game between many kids, you can call it “Breathing Trees”, where the kids become like trees. You ask the kids to keep the meditation for as long as they can without talking or moving from their spot. Last person standing wins. Anyone left standing for 15 minutes automatically wins. - You may naturally speed up or slow down from your normal breathing whenever you focus on it. Be mindful of this. Try to breathe as regularly as possible with this exercise.
The Method1. Have the child stand up and place their own hand on their stomach.2. Tell them to try to relax and breathe normally, enough to make their hand on their stomach push out with each breath. When they exhale, their stomach should let their hand move closer to their body. To breathe properly, make sure the shoulders aren’t moving up and down. This is called diaphragmatic breathing. This process cleans toxins from the body. 3. When they have the breathing method down, they are ready to close their eyes, and begin counting breaths. 4. Tell them the trick to this activity is to count each breath silently until they reach 11, then start at one again. They should keep doing this, and if they lose count, they should start at one again. The counting will help them pass time and clear their mind from distracting thoughts. 5. If they move or talk at any time, they should start their count over again. If you are playing this meditation as a game with many kids, moving or talking takes you out of the game.
Important note- This technique will be difficult for kids when they start; in fact, this activity is difficult for many adults.- The first minute of the child meditation is the toughest to get through. The child will want to move, talk, or try to stop at any cost. They may say, “why are we doing this?” or “this game is hard”. The best way to set this game up is to join the game for this first round. By doing this you model the behaviour for the child or children. - This activity takes a lot of patience, but it is possible. The more your focus on the count, the easier it will be, the more energy you will have to stand. The child meditation gets easier with practice, for obvious reasons. - This meditation is really not physically demanding at all, yet, with a cluttered mind, this meditation becomes exhausting. It’s illuminating to see how the child meditation becomes easier when we become more focused. You can take this principle with you to your own everyday experiences. - The body relation technique is optional with the child meditation method. You can relax your body to a comfortable level with the first few breaths.
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