Five minutes is all you need to introduce meditation and inner calm to your child! While there are a number of different kinds of mediations, one of the easiest to start with is a simple breathing exercise. Controlled breathing is a part of many meditative practices and as you develop more in your practice, you can go deeper into meditation and the all-loving experience of bliss by learning to control your breath more and more.
Today take a few moments to teach your child about that beautiful inner calm by sitting together, everyone closing their eyes, and simply paying attention to the breath. Find a quiet place where you can all get comfy. The spine should be straight. Begin by inhaling deeply all the way down to your belly. Ask the kids to fill up their tummy like a big balloon with your breath. Exhale slowly allowing the tummy to return to its natural position. All you have to do, is pay close attention to the sound of the breath – the inhale, the exhale, and the space between breaths. In this simple meditation, we are teaching our children to focus. It could take weeks or months, but that’s not important. Time is just a human construct after all. We just want to focus on calming our active little monkey mind and learning to focus our attention. Focusing on the breath calms the mind and body. It brings us peace.
Meditation is a practice that can provide tremendous calming benefits. It’s easy to do and is especially effective when done regularly. In only 5 minutes a day and done on a regular basis you can truly not only TEACH such a VALUABLE skill, but also have wonderful BONDING TIME with your child, and that time will serve as a foundation as they get older. I encourage you to start a regular meditation practice today with your children if you have not already.
We are going through a very unique time here on our beautiful planet earth. Many shifts are happening. We can navigate all of it more easily if we incorporate meditation every day to calm our minds and experience that inner serenity and connection. And for those who want a little extra support in the meditation dept, ShambalaKids also offer an APP for an easy bedtime. YAY!