Children are unspoiled. The mind of a child is like a slate of clay where waves stream over, leaving rippling marks, but not for long as another comes and washes over, wiping it clean. It is free of an ever-towering I-ness– the Ego. The child is never a slave to a belief system set in stone. She never has to “unlearn” in order to learn. She may cry but the smile is never too far behind, for her natural state is the joy.
We have laid a foundation to a world of fast life, in the age of quickly-updating, everflowing information, and one growing ever so competitive. This world calls one on to the rat race too soon while too tender. Children within the ages four to eight have got to deal with nothing short of overload at prep schools, keep up with the complexity of family life in the times when both parents remain preoccupied, and inner disturbances. No wonder, kids are in need of meditation as much as their guardians.
Jess Rose, a teacher with Do You Yoga, assures getting children to meditation shall be no biggie once you learn how to coach them–
Pair Yoga Breathing With Something Fun
For kids that age, our very valuable yoga breathing is nothing but a bore. Therefore, we need to club up breathing with something a lot of fun and exciting to do. Get the class moving with mudra for a breathing to kick off the session.
Draw a lotus flower on a board and fill it with the color pink. Tell the little ones about the symbology of lotus in yoga and meditation. It signifies beauty and stillness. Though it grows out of the water, its face is turned to the sun. Join your hands together and show the budding yogis how the Padma blooms.
Now, enact the blooming of the Padma with breath heaving out of your chest. The imagery of the lotus and the connection of a flower blooming with our breath is something that will catch on with the young hearts and they will know how a breath is so much more.
Tell Them a Story Of Meditation
Nothing inspires more in meditation for children than a peppy narration of how a beloved storybook character practice mindfulness. You can find out lots of such stories online for guided kids meditation.
Carefully pick up the voice modulations, the highlights and climaxes, the cues for a smile and the cues to go deeper, and narrate them to your flock of sweet ones. As you read, just keep an eye on them for attentiveness. Follow it up with a few minutes of svanasana and then 2-5 minutes of seated, upright meditation.
Give Them a Book Of Mandalas to Paint
What’s a kid who doesn’t love to scribble and paint? They all do, and as a teacher formulating meditation techniques for children, you need to utilize just that. Give the young ones a bunch of mandala painting books to fill out with their favorite colors, but without going out the borders. It’s a challenge of bringing their minds, easily given to distractions on the printing sheet.
Give them an incentive of little chocolate coins in gold wrappers or color pens. Whoever gets the coloring right gets the gift.
A Mantra To Chant and To Believe In
Singsong chants with a message of inherent goodness for the flock of bright-eyed cherubs will steer them forever in the path of the right. It could be a prayer of gratitude to the Lord or the Vaishnava mantra of “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna”, or even something tailored to suit the times and fancy of the children.
Jess gives her little kids group the mantra for a home– “bless this house oh lord we pray/ bless this house all night and day”, to instill the sense of belonging and love for family. On another session, she asked the children to meditate with the chant “I am open, I am open, I am open to the abundance of the universe, for I am love, and I am joy”. It’s not conveying the literal meaning to them that matters, the resonance of happiness in a chant is to up anyone’s vibe.
Nidra To Wrap Up the Session
The last of the meditation exercises for children is to lie down in a row and do the good-old Yoga Nidra. Look out, that they don’t really fall asleep.
To know more about meditation in further details, explore our Yoga Teacher Training In India.
