While there are many apps, books, and techniques for introducing children to Mindfulness practices, some techniques are very simple, almost intuitive and easy to teach. Lillian Pransky is a mom, author, and yoga teacher who describes the first two techniques below. The third one is an exercise I used with my children (and now grandchildren) because it’s fun! It’s been long known that meditation helps children feel more calm, but recent research has shown that 4th and 5th graders who participated in a four- month meditation program showed improvements in executive functions like cognitive control, flexibility and better math grades. A separate study found similar improvements in children with ADHD, and a different study showed that 8 weeks of meditation lowered aggression, and stress levels. Mindfulness Meditation has been shown to change the structure and function of the brain and increased activity in brain areas associated with calm, and focused attention in adults and children. Here are three simple exercises to try.
The Elevator. Tell the child to imagine an elevator in your body going down three floors. Imagine that the elevator is starting from the top of the head (the fourth floor). It then moves down to the chest, to the belly and then down to the ground (ground floor). Begin at the top of the head and imagine the elevator slowly lowering to the chest. Notice any sensations in the body on the way down. Mentally say “three” and when the doors open (at chest level) take a breath in of fresh air. Then breathe out slowly. Doors close. Next, let the elevator move slowly down to the belly, again noticing any sensations on the way down. Say “two” and imagine the doors opening again with the in breath and closing with the out breath. Now imagine your elevator moving slowly down to the ground floor. Pause and let the doors open again with a peaceful in breath and out breath. Now you’re on the ground. Pause and notice what this feels like. One important feature of this exercise is to let the elevator descend slowly and notice sensations on the way down.
Finger Counting. This exercise is useful for calming a child who may be upset. First create a gentle (important – its not a clenched tight fist) fist with both hands, palms up. And then with each in breath unfurl a finger from your palm and say a number (or word, see below). So on the first in breath unfurl the thumb and say “one”. Pause and enjoy the outbreath. On the next in breath unfurl the index finger and say “two” and so on. At the end of the ten breaths both palms should be face up and open. The child can also substitue some words to the unfurling on the in breath instead of using numbers. Words such as calm, quiet, relax, etc. Let the child choose their words. It will bring more meaning to the exercise.
Flower Power. This is my favorite one to use at bedtime or nap time (theirs and/or mine) for 5 minutes or so. Have the child imagine their favorite flower and favorite color for the flower. This does not have to be nature correct! It can be spotted, swirled, striped or many colors. Now have them imagine that they are the flower and see if they can lie still just like the flower for a minute or two. While they are lying still have them notice the in breath and out breath. Have them notice the slight movement of their flower- just like a gentle wind may move a real flower. Imagine the wind getting calmer. Notice how beautiful the flower is- just like them!
I hope you find these exercises helpful to use with children. And you know- maybe- for yourself as well! May you and your families be well happy and peaceful.
Floyd
