MEDITATION FOR CHILDREN MADE EASY
A Program of Adapted Meditations
Are you home with your children and needing some constructive ways to fill their time? Or are your adult children asking for ideas for their children? If so, you are not alone. This inspired us to create a program for our nieces and nephew during the “self-isolation mandate” to give their moms and dads a bit of respite (or at least time to make dinner).
It is our way of letting them know… WE ARE HERE WITH YOU!
Something that has been made quite clear during this virus influx is that we are ALL in this together!
So, please feel free to use and share this program, for YOU ARE FAMILY, TOO!
*A special thank you to Dakota, Will & Maddie for your inspiration to create the program. We Love You!
INTRODUCTION
Life can be a difficult process for the young, especially during these uncommon times. Children need to feel secure, not a security that comes from being dependent on someone or owning possessions (like hordes of toilet paper). No person or thing can make us secure.
There is a different kind of security that each of us needs, which is crucial for our development into an independent, confident person. This security is feeling good about one’s self, a security within. This is achieved by each of us knowing ourselves, and this deep sense of security can be gained through meditation.
Meditation sounds heavy, but it is Light!
One can use simple but imaginative stories that lead children into magical worlds in which they are released from fears, discover peacefulness and stillness, and experience wonder-filled adventures. When my children were quite young in the late 1990’s, I discovered this unique approach to meditation by Maureen Garth. Although Maureen died in 1997, her strategies live on.
Children relate best to the use of creative visualization in meditation. It enables their minds to be active, to draw pictures or images within, and for their creativity to flow. The simple visualizations and the meditative process help children:
to sleep more peacefully,
to learn to still themselves,
to be freed of their worries,
and experience wonder-filled adventures.
When children participate in the meditation, meditation enables their minds to become free, to explore within! Each recorded meditation has its own distinctive theme and gives them the opportunity to experience it. They create scenes in their minds and feel the sensations they bring.
By teaching children how to meditate, and how to feel a sense of security within that no one can take from them, we prepare them for the future with a more confident sense of self. Can you imagine if we ALL had been taught at their ages to have a space within ourselves where we could be still and at peace, what this world would be like? This is a legacy that keeps on giving. It creates a better world, a positive more harmonious place where there is hope for all.
Inspired to support my nieces and nephew at home during this time of self-isolation, I recorded a series of adapted meditations. Feel free to share these meditations with your friends and families for their children. To take the experience further have your children draw pictures of their inner landscapes and older children can journal their experiences. This can be a daily practice they do alone or share with you.
how to use
Note to Parents: Hopefully this program will be like Netflix for your kids. After listening to one creative visualization meditation, they will want another “episode!” These meditations are perfect for school age children. Each meditation varies in length but using an art and writing component can stretch out the time of the program. Young adults may use the meditations as well, but they may want to have longer periods of silence. It can be helpful to do the meditations at the same time every day.
Suggested use: Allow your children to move through the meditations sequentially, listening to one a day. After the meditation, allow your child to draw a picture of their journey and hidden landscapes. Older children may enjoy keeping a journal of their experiences. Feel free to send us emails with pictures of your children’s artwork and/or snippets of their journey. It is such a gift to see through the eyes of a child (a child of ANY age). Send to: support@ProfoundLifeWellness.com
How to Prepare: Your children will need the following items:
an audio device for listening to the recording (computer, iPad or mobile device)
a quiet space in which to sit or lie down during the meditation
(some children enjoy using a pillow, blanket and eye cover like a bandana or scarf)
paper and art supplies and/or a writing journal
water (drinking water after meditation helps to ground into the physical body)
After compiling the necessary items, it is time for your children to get comfortable, and BEGIN!
