Meditation and mindfulness are often considered adult activities, however, this vision is beginning to change. There is now a growing interest in teaching children to meditate to help them relax, eliminate stress, and learn to connect with their own inner source of calm.
But who can teach the children to meditate?Teaching children to meditate and practice mindfulness is something meditation can share with them. Just be interested, learn simple techniques, practice, and most importantly understand why meditation and mindfulness are so interesting.
- Living in a hurry with new technologies.
- The need to be multitasking.
- Overstimulation and change are some of the situations that seem to impose daily tumult.
- Both for adults and children.
- In this sense the reasons for teaching children to meditate are the same about adults: connect with your “I” and absorb the energy of the earth.
The stress we face causes tension and fatigue and prevents us from concentrating, which adults can teach children. Meditation is a tool that helps us to be more aware of ourselves and to capture and transmit positive energy.
Through meditation we learn to be connected to the earth, to live the present moment and to enjoy a moment of tranquility, this allows you to relieve stress, connect with your own essence and develop self-love and self-esteem.
People who learn and practice meditation since they have children have tools to control anxiety and maintain the concentration they can use throughout their lives, allowing them to live fully and consciously.
In addition, meditation has added value for children, as it helps improve concentration and learning; in this sense, meditation is a training of the mind, which promotes concentration and improves the interaction of the child in the educational process.
When teaching meditation to children, we must choose age-appropriate techniques for our young students. Here are some tips and strategies to guide this teaching.
If you want to teach a child to meditate, you should see yourself meditate or know that you are meditating, in this way you will arouse the curiosity of the children, even the elderly will be able to identify the positive effect of meditation on their lives.
Once the child has a real and natural interest in meditation, it can guide him to a better understanding and promote his or her own practice.
All people who practice and teach meditation know that breathing is the beginning and end of all kinds of meditation. We breathe with us at all times. Therefore, breathing becomes an anchor, it helps us to focus on the here and now.
Children can learn this by simply looking at their breathing, watching their chest or abdomen move with inspiration and exhalation, this helps them to be in the present moment, focused on their breathing and not elsewhere. Meditate together and you will both be anchored in this, time, which will also strengthen the bond between you.
Teaching children to meditate is a personal journey for them and for you. Children don’t always react as adults expect. That’s the way it is with meditation. We can guide them on how to sit, close our eyes and all the steps they have to take, but if they don’t want to, we can’t force them.
You need to find strategies to connect with your interests, give them tools to help them calm down and relax. Many children find it hard to be calm or at peace, which is not bad, but it is a challenge.
Adults spend a lot of time thinking rationally and analytically, but meditation is a time to be creative and let your imagination run wild to create a quiet and safe place that kids will love.
In any case, you can find many books with specific meditations for children that will help you create a solidarity environment, you can use them as they are in the book and, from there, create your own environment or let the child also collaborate in the creation of meditation.
The idea of teaching children to meditate may seem wonderful, but it is not easy; in fact, it can be very frustrating if you don’t focus from a flexible and patient point of view. Let the child develop his or her own curiosity, let him or her feel free when you offer meditations, and observe and manipulate the situation.
With very restless children it is especially interesting to use meditation as a tool for them to appropriate their own energy and channel it properly, something easier with children lying down than sitting down.