“If every 8 year old is taught meditation, we will
eliminate violence from this world within one generation.”
- Dalai Lama
Children are natural meditators. It is often easier
for them to connect to their original state of peace, love and happiness. But
it takes practice and time to get into that natural state of positivity and serenity.
Continue with small steps because eventually these small steps, on a regular
basis, will lead to enormous results i.e a child who is emotionally and
mentally healthy, happy and calm.
Here are a
few tips:
Create a
quiet place just for meditation
This can be a room if you have a spare room or a
corner in your bedroom or lounge room. You might like to decorate this space
with some calming pictures, some of your favorite books, plants, and a special
chair or cushion or a bean bag to sit on. Keep this space just for meditation. However,
this should not stop you from meditating in a natural setting, such as a beach
or a bench in the park.
Start out
small
Children are usually able to sit for as many minutes
as their age e.g., ten minutes for a ten-year-old. However, you can begin with
a shorter session - It is ok to even meditate just for two minutes. Sometimes
baby steps work best as small goals are more achievable. Eventually, the hope
is to make it a life long habit.
Create a
routine
Make it a morning habit or a bedtime routine, or both.
The morning, is usually the best time to meditate as it sets the tone for the
day. As you start your day, so you live your day. Some prefer to relate it to
another established daily activity such as brushing your teeth or going to bed.
This way meditation gets easily integrated into your routine.
Communicate
and encourage
Talk with your children about the way they feel after
meditating. Encourage and applaud the changes they notice or point out changes
that you notice in their behavior that they might be unaware of. Praising a
child for positive behavior will increase the occurrence of such behavior.
Model the behavior
Meditate with your child. This is clearly the most
important tip. Often we see that an athlete’s child is good at sports, or that
a musician’s child enjoys playing instruments. Yes, genes matter, but what
matters more is what the child observes in his house. Children learn by
imitating adults. If you are new to meditation, experiment with guided, silent,
or mantra meditations. Children love nature so perhaps a few minutes of mindfully
listening to “nature music” might work well.
Practice
makes progress
Just like any other activity, Meditation gets better
with practice. Just like losing 20 pounds requires discipline and persistent
effort in the gym, meditation is a workout for the mind, which requires
persistency. Each time you sit to practice, it’s a small success, and you
are strengthening those neural pathways in your brain. But consistency is
more important than intensity. Five minutes of daily meditation is more
important than thirty minutes of meditation once a week. So go ahead, start
meditating!
