Meditation with Children
Simple Effective Methods
MEDITATION WITH CHILDREN
Meditation is good for children as well as adults; It calms them down, increases their creativity and attention, and helps them fall asleep. You can include family meditation in your family routines by guiding your children, without forcing them, and by adding some fun. When meditating with children, attention should be paid to relationship and communication, a calm tone of voice should be used, a suitable environment should be created and their physical comfort should be ensured.
Breathing Exercises: You can do simple breathing exercises to teach children to notice and control their breathing. For example, you can teach children to sit in a comfortable position and do deep breathing exercises. Using visually fun techniques like "bubble breathing," you can tell children to inhale and inflate an imaginary balloon as they exhale.
Visualizations: It can be effective for children to create visualizations using their imagination. For example, you can tell children to sit in a comfortable position and close their eyes. Then, you can tell them to imagine they are in a happy place and visualize the details of that place. Activities such as walking on the seashore or having a picnic in the forest may attract children's attention.
Simple Yoga and Movements: Yoga can help children balance their body and mind. Teaching simple yoga movements and combining them with meditation can help children focus their attention and become aware of their bodies.
Emotional Awareness Exercises: You can do emotional awareness exercises to teach children to recognize and accept their emotions. It can be effective to introduce different emotions to children using an emotion card set and have them share their experiences of feeling these emotions.
These techniques can be adapted to children's ages and interests. The important thing is to make meditation fun and accessible for children and encourage their participation.
