We Need to Teach Children to Meditate

When you hear the word meditation, what goes into your mind. Do you think about a Buddhist monk sitting in the lotus position while water flows in a brook beside him? Do you think about calmness and peace when you hear the word meditation?

Meditation as they say is allowing your mind to be free and listening to the Universe’s voice. It is also the state of emptying your mind and letting go of all the thoughts and worries that may be putting you into a stressful state.

But should we teach children meditation? Scientists and educators have now recently started programs in schools including meditations in a child’s school life.

Benefits of Meditation to Children

Children are smaller beings that are full of energy enough to power three adults. They have a lot of moods and can easily feel emotional changes. Kids are normally in shifting states of high and low. Sugar plays a big role in their energy as well as envirolment, friends, school and family.

Aside from all this, the demands of the modern day school has greatly affected the young children of today. They feel a constant demand to perform well in school. This may cause frustration, anger and anxiety.

Through meditation, kids can learn how to balance their feelings and emotions. They can protect their thoughts from anger and aggression.

1. Controlling agressive tendencies – Children may behave more outwardly towards others specially the younger ones because they do not have a sense of concience or social belongingness yet. Teens on the other hand have raging hormones. Hormones can cause them to feel uncontrollable surges of emotions that may lead to being aggressive.

Meditation puts children and teens in a state of clarity and stillness. This allows them to pinpoint the cause of their agression and find peace. Guided meditation can also help children who experience a huge amount of aggressive tendencies.

Of course assistance coming from psychologists and guidance counselors is much needed if the child is obviously becoming too agressive.

2. Helps combat bullying – Bullying is the action of a person or a group of people towards someone by inflicting physical or emotional pain on another. Bullying is usually rooted to being bullied at home or by other. Psychologists have pinpointed tha bullies are normally seeking attention and it is a call for help.

Through meditation, a child can find healing. He can find peace and contemplate that he is not supposed to inflict pain on other be in verbal, physical or mental. Meditation promotes peace and tranquility and thus helps children be more keen on sharing peace with others.

3. Helps children with eating – A lot of young kids may have trouble eating due to lack of attention. They want to be stimuated with gadgets, toys and anythng that is taking their attention.

By having more focus and peace, a child may be helped into sitting down for meal times. Teens who may have bodily issues who cannot accept their bodies may learn to love themselves through finding peace in meditative states.

4. Improves focus in school – School is tough. Even adults who were once kids can attest to that. But in the recent years, the demands of school has greatly increased to the point of driving kids to the wall. They feel that they can never be able to accomplish everything. On top of school, there is also extra curricular activities that students need to do. So the constant demand to perform well can have damaging effects on a child’s psyche.

Having mental focus and clarity is an effect that meditation can give. If a child is allowed to sit down and listen to his breath for at least ten minutes a day, he or she can perform well in school. He or she can handle the demands of studying and extracurricular activities and find balance in life.

5. Fights Child Stress – Child stress is no laughing matter. Suicide rates of young kids of recently increased. Pressure from parents, peers and school can drive a student to feel inadequate.

Meditation can assist a child to confront stress with peace. He will learn through listening to his breath that life is still good no matter what the trials that he or she faces.

How Can Kids Meditate

Meditation for kids needs not be overly complicated. In the first few sessions, guiding them through it would be ideal. Guided meditations can help them feel the essense of meditating.

1. Choose a specific time to meditate – Putting meditation at a specific time can help the child ease into the practice more.

2. Teach them to focus on their breath – Meditation begins with recognizing the power of the breath and breathing. Teach the child to focus on his breath and to block out distractions.

3. Alot a certain amount of time – A minimum of ten minutes to about thirty minutes would ideal to have a meditation session with a class. Incorporating meditation to the daily class activities can help children cope with stress. Meditation at home is also good. Doing it in the morning may help them face the day with peace and doing so a night can help them sleep better.

4. Teach children to rest – Aside from meditation proper rest is important for children of all ages. They need enough rest and sleep. They need time to be kids and play. They can benefit from some downtime and it can help them with both school and family life.

Meditation has been a way to unifiy mind and body and find peace. It is not only for adults but also for children. Allowing children to meditate can help them grow as kind and loving adults.

1 Comment

  1. Heather on 27/03/2018 at 9:30 pm

    I’m loving your piece about meditation for children. I have worked in primary schools as a teaching assistant for over 13 years now and witnessed the change in children’s behaviour due to stress created by school expectations, peer pressure and probably most of all society and the social media. I’m now also a qualified meditation teacher and look forward to helping these children find peace and their happy place to see them into adulthood. Definitely more awareness needed for local authorities so the time is found for this in the busy curriculum! Xx

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