Meditation and kids

[Autumn]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if anyone on here meditated and
if so how do you introduce it to small children? I Meditate briefly once or twice a day to relax real quickly, especially if I start to feel overwhelmed. But I would love to get my hands on a book for children about meditation. My 2 year old will be easy to teach if I could just convince her 4 year old sister of it! Thanks for your help.

Autumn

[meandlinc]

Well, I don't know if this is along the same lines, but I'll share...
My son - 23 mos. has a hard time falling asleep because he was always held, so it comes hard to him, even though he insists on going to bed himself. I have started to point out pretty things like butterflies, fluffy bunnies, etc. and have on occasion, shown him uhm.... mind blank.... an image that moves around for him to focus on. He does close his eyes when he's in a good mood and is apparently visualizing. It does help him fall asleep a bit sooner and I can hear him talking about what I have just pointed out when I'm in the next room. I was reading in one of the partners' products - tweedlewink, that kids' right brains are very open, and about age 4 they become more left-brain dominant, but because their understanding of clearing the mind and meditating is so foreign, keeping or maybe taking advantage of the right brain open with just focusing on something cool or cute or even fun may be a good start... what are your thoughts?

[Autumn]

I think I need to check into the Tweedlewinks. Thanks.

Autumn

[KL]

I try to meditate regularly too, and this is something I will DEFINITELY be encouraging Felicity to do as she grows older.

I think at young ages, it's better and easier to introduce them to yoga first, which we have been doing.  During the process they also get exposure to very brief meditations. I'll try to post a pic later of her meditating during classes!



btw, see her for the recent discussion about yoga:

http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-other-topics/teaching-yoga-to-your-child!/

[Sveta]

Dear Friends,

I am very new to this site but I have a daughter who is 5ys old and we both meditate together. In the beginning she always hesitated to meditate and used to make a lot of excuses but 1year back when she asked me this question, 'Mom why do you meditate?'. i told her that I mediate to be strong, clever, beautiful and smart. Meditation gives you lot of energy like superman or superwoman. All the problems can be solved in life through meditation. So she used to watch me a couple of minutes and then she started doing the same. But everything has its time. just have patience. You can visit the website of the mediation that i do www.sahajayoga.org.

from,
Sveta Kotwani
[Moscow]

[Nikolett]

Hi,
We are Christians, so we do meditate and teach our kids to meditate on Jesus and His love, i.e. "let's get real quiet, stop thinking about other things, and to think about Jesus picturing Him in our minds (give Him a hug, play soccer with Him...). Or think about a Bible verse we've memorized to meditate in the Word. Or your Guardian Angel and so on." It's usually a short exercise that helps them to relax and also to tune into the Spiritual World beyond our sight.

[Jean Low]

Hi,

Could anybody out there tell me if it is kind of Image trainning when we are doing meditation??? My daugther is attending SM class, sensei always ask us to do some games like pretending we are skiing in winter, jogging in d jungle and etc..

Does Meditation must be sit down or lying down?? I also couldn't visual though I tried to meditate, it always blank... could anybody gives some advices??? Many thanks!!!

[trinity papa]

Hi KL great stuff but i haven't the time to download yet .... too busy during weekend ....

anyway meditation .... i like that .... previously when i do meditate ... there are many many ways to do it ..... started eons ago ... in India ... i like the bodhisatva .... anyway if you have problems trying to do deep meditation you can try doing it under running water like in a shower ..... idea is to remove your stress, relax, let go, and if succesful you won't feel the water, you don't hear the water running, but your still aware of your breathing, your still aware of your conciousness, when you enter the next stage .... that is total peace and then you focus your mind on something, some calls it visualization, others call it a point, a white light in a very dark place, when your successful, eg if you visualise buddha or god or serenity or whatever you wish ..... you will feel yourselve immersed in it very bright colourful lights ... you feel a sense of serenity and peace, but unfortunately in very very deep meditation you will need expert guidance otherwise it could get really really scary you may even get lost .... no kidding, its like your in hyperspace or moving in warp speed.....

So what kind of meditation layman do? relaxation and focusing .... this removes stress and refocus on the immediate solution ..... mainly deep breathing exercises, feel the stress and tension loosen, remove so called negative energy, clearing the mind etc etc .... and hopefully solutions comes its way ....

Image training, or visualization, is another form of meditation, the waking type ...... your asked to focus on a dot and visualise something, forcing your subconscious to create something, i mean its good as long as the person has a good nature or heart (often this is ignored), otherwise ..... anyway idea is to expand the so called focusing and visualizing power of the right mind expanding its circle of awareness ...knowing or feeling something before your eyes sees it or before it happens ... heightens or trains awareness ...... supposingly when succesful you see floating colourful spining lights ..... if you have a baby try looking at an image memorise that image and focusing on the image and try to push that image which you visualise in front of you and pushing it to your baby ..... see if the baby will pick up that picture or image that you are visualizing .....

Sorry very touchy blurry stuff ..... but i am not so good with words ..... so can't or don't know how to make it sound better ..... but its much much deeper than most people realize .....

[Nikolett]

but unfortunately in very very deep meditation you will need expert guidance otherwise it could get really really scary you may even get lost .... no kidding, its like your in hyperspace or moving in warp speed.....

I experienced that while trying meditating before I was saved... I wasn't sure I could get back, scary... I thought after that being on drugs could feel like that too. I think that was one of the few experiences that made me realize that Spirit World exists and search for more until I found Jesus

[Jean Low]

thanks trinitypapa! I can relate ur explanation to what SM does in d class. The parent education course ( PEC ) of SM children also ask parents to visual during story telling, singing or even 5 minute practise suggestion, I just visual nothing, I think I must get an expert to help me out then!!!

[trinity papa]

Hi Jean Low, so your in singapore?? We're not in SM class not in HK at least .... never been to one either .... anyway i find that visualisation in a way is abit like imagination .... or you can call it day dreaming too, its similar but yet different ..... in day dreaming you just float into it, dreaming about your vocation, your fun time, or some hypothetical event ......, in visualisation you are telling yourself what to imagine .... some people do it very well as they are more in tune to their conciouse and sub-conciousness.... eg when you get stage fright ... you just visualise away the crowds and visualise yourself as if in practice and ..... you have removed the stage fright .... so idea is by practicing so called visualisation ... say if you have been to a cold place like snowy winter .... close your eyes imagine you are there, remember that feeling (usually the more sudden or more impactful the experience the easier it is to recall), and suddenly, if your successful you'll get the chill .... with practice your get it every time, but there is also another interesting effect ....... i don't really dream, if i do i can control it, normally i let it play out and if i don't like the negative outcome i can rewind it, direct it and change it to a better outcome .... which is interesting .....

but of course sometimes i can't ... and that is when i am under alot of stress ..... and its me destressing thru dreams ....

anyway with very very good visualisation ..... you can feel almost like that thing is very real ..... (but unfortunately some people calls that bothering on madness, so a degree of control is needed, hmm control what we say in case people say we're mad.... haha.)

[trinity papa]

Hi Nikolett, very seldom i do hear christians meditate ... often they relate that to hindusim or buddhism ....or yoga or karma sutra ....., but its interesting to know your experience. Meditating while holding a base of goodness, in this case jesus or buddha, which talks about compassion, love etc ..... which in this case is the key or base or anchor that gives you a good heart or soul, so that when you go into the other world or zone or hyperspace, searching for info or knowledge or experiences, you would not be so easily tempted into the easy slippery dark path.

But once you've been in there it gives you certain awareness, awakening, but i daren't go further .... wish i can know more about your experiences .... but not quite sure if this is the forum for it ...hahaha

anyway the topic is meditation and kids..... so i guess first step is to get them to relax and focus ..... 

[Nikolett]

hi trinity papa
my first experience meditating was before I became a Christian (I wasn't born into Christianity God has no grandchildren anyway )
maybe we should take this discussion to Coffee Corner or I'll just PM you? Just not tonite, got to have some sleep...
btw how did u choose your forum name?

[Autumn]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the input. I brought up the topic because I was in need of just that......Relaxing my kids and getting them to focus better. I came to the conclusion that it takes a lot of patience. Just like anything with kids.

But here's what we've been doing. I found a cheat sheet (if you will) for deep breathing. I do it a few times a day  (especially during high stress periods). And the girls are interested in what I'm doing when I sit down alone and often follow me..........I just let them do it however they like. But they are breathing and relaxing! So it's a success in my eyes.



( In the first example, inhale tor 4 counts, hold for 1, exhale for 8 counts, and hold for 4. Your counts may be faster for slower depending on your lung capacity.)  

I have marked the breathing patterns I found most effective, and I don't always stretch.
I just sit down somewhere to breathe and recharge. Amazingly, it really works.
 
Here the cheat sheet I found on deep breathing.....



          Breath Ratio Chart:

Inhalation     Hold    Exhalation    Hold           Effect

     4             1          8             4           Relaxing
     4             1          12           1           Relaxing*
     6             1          10           1           Relaxing
     6             1          8             4           Relaxing

     8             1          8             1           Balanced
     6             2          6             2           Balanced*

     6             4          6             1           Energizing*
     6             6          1             1           Energizing

Here's what it says-



Learn how to breathe.....



It's what brings the asanas to life and gives yoga its flow. The idea is to keep your awareness on your breath continuously as you move in and out of each posture. And depending on whether you want to relax, balance, or energize, you can vary your breathing pattern to get the desired effect.



Lengthening and then holding your exhalation after all the air is expelled relaxes you, while lengthening and holding your inhalation increases your energy.  Be careful, though- if you're feeling stressed, you're better off using a balanced breath pattern,as holding your inhalation can make you more tense.

The breath ratios at the top of the chart are very relaxing, while those at the bottom are energizing.  If you pay careful attention and adjust your breathing accordingly, you can both relax and energize yourself at the same time.
                                            

Have fun breathing everyone!

Autumn

[shaman]

Hi Autumn,

here's my experience- It may not help you now but you may be able to recommend it to others. We did prenatal stimulation- we read a number of articles on this topic and tried to incorporate different techniques in our daily routine when I was pregnant (music, reading, meditation, etc). I would meditate and say 'AUM' before I slept at night- this would really relax me and I would sleep better.

When my son was born, he had to be kept in the NICU for 3 days- he was attached to the telemetry monitors. When I would go to visit him, I would chant 'AUM' to relax him ...and his heart rate would drop from 130's to 90's...it was amazing! All the alarms would go off and the nurses would panic- that is until I told them what I was doing (I am a physician, so they trusted me . I repeated this on 3 different occasions and the same thing happened.

My baby feels relaxed and stops crying when I chant 'AUM' now and he started saying AUM at the age of 4 and a half months! (basically he imitates me) He is 7 months now.

I hope to continue this and hope it will help him in the future. 

Take care.

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