Meditation – Its For Parents and Kids Too!

By Guest Blogger and Meditation Coach Mary Scholes

Meditation is a learned skill that parents can enjoy with your kids, and its purpose is to find happiness and well being within the mind, regardless of what is going on in our physical or emotional environment.

Seeking methods for quieting internal chatter and reducing stress are what initially attract people to meditation.  No matter what the stress may be, whether financial, relationship, career or health related, meditation can reduce and even conquer the emotional stress brought on by the above mentioned challenges.  The good news is you don’t need to give up all your possessions, chant for hours at a time or live in a Buddhist monastery to become a good meditator.  Scientific evidence proves that just ten minutes a day improves your emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Many studies have shown that meditation not only calms the mind, but has a profound physiological effect on the body.  Proven benefits include:

• Reversal of  heart disease (lowering blood pressure, lowering cholesterol)
• Reduces physical and emotional pain
• Enhances body’s immune system to better fight disease
• Promotes inspiration and creativity
• Increases blood circulation to digestive tract, skin and brain
• Reduces anxiety and depression

I have had the opportunity to teach several cancer patients meditation and all were able to report an increased ability to deal with the anxiety, depression and anger that comes with a diagnosis of cancer.  They also reported the side effects from their drug therapy were softened and that their sleep improved as well.

I myself have been practicing meditation for over ten years.  My only regret is that I was not introduced to meditation earlier.  I received a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 17.  I am now 48 and meditation has played a significant role in my emotional and physical wellbeing.

Before learning meditation I counted on drugs to relief my physical pain and anxiety.  I am thrilled to share with you that meditation provides much more relief than any pain medication I was prescribed and a sense of peaceful awareness and acceptance that is not easily put into words. In fact I was able to stop taking all prescribed pain medication completely.  This is why I am passionate about sharing the gift of meditation.    Anyone can learn meditation and it requires no belief system or faith, just regular practice.

Teaching children to meditate sets the tone for emotional awareness and wellbeing to develop.  Children can learn simple breathing techniques and positive affirmations to help clear away negative thinking as these are forms of meditation.   Listening to a guided visualization/meditation c.d  at bedtime is a great way to introduce meditation to your child. Meditation can be practiced individually or as a family and the results will bring an unconditional and nonjudgmental awareness of what you are thinking and feeling and allow you to weed out the thoughts that do not serve you in a positive way. Here are some tips to introduce meditation to your family:

• Create a meditative atmosphere at home by encouraging creative play and reducing the amount of t.v. and computer games.  Reading to your child without showing them the pictures allows them to become quiet on the outside and creative on the inside.
• Listen to guided visualization/meditation c.d.’s at bedtime.
• Walk in nature with your child/family and keep the conversation to a minimum and pay attention to all the sounds and smells around you.
• Practice deep breathing – breathing from the lungs and not the diaphragm will instantly decompress your child.
• At the dinner table have everyone share what they are grateful for that day.  Teach your child to keep a gratitude journal. Even if they cannot write yet, they can draw pictures of what they are grateful for.
• Practice positive affirmations.  You could begin with phrases such as:

*All is well in my world

*I am happy being me

*I am calm and peaceful

*I ask for help when I need it.

Many people feel they do not have the time or energy to learn meditation.  Often we would rather “fix” things than accept them.  What people should try to understand is that meditation brings a natural order to our lives, an order that works.  Once we begin to live a non-reactive lifestyle and move into a pattern of acceptance we can focus our attention where we want it to be, rather than using our energy to deflect our thoughts or live in denial of our thoughts.

Tagged as: children, emotional wellbeing, happiness, meditation, mindfulness, parents, positive affirmations