Meditation has positive effects on kids as well as adults alike. Meditation is basically the process of calming the mind and turning inwards. For kids it starts with relaxing and breathing. They are so full of energy and joy, always bubbling with energy to do something physically challenging. They just do not like to sit at one place, so it is a great deal for them to sit at one place for more than one minute. But meditation for kids can bring a life ling health and mental well being.
The benefits of meditation for kids are focus, self-control, emotional regulations, coping easily and relationship understanding.
In today’s multitasking world kids too have to learn to do more things at once without getting panicked. They will learn to relax and slow down for a while and take a deep breath, clear the mind and become thoughtful.
They will learn to be deal with anxiety, depression and stress. Though unheard of but yes, kids do feel all these too at their own level.
Importance of Meditation for Kids
The positive results that you will see in the kids after meditation are:
Become emotionally strong
Kids learn to use core skills to their benefit. They learn to identify symptoms of anxiety and then calm themselves. They can use deep breathing and slow down the heart rate and bring it quickly back to normal. It is essential for young kids as well as those going through adolescence. They can stop, sit, think and then restart. This helps them get more focused and become emotionally strong, rather than be a cranky baby or complaining all the time. Giving kids less screen time and letting them admire nature is a great calming technique. Daily few minutes of meditation can be easily developed into a habit in day or night.
Relieve stress
As parents we do not think kids can get stressed. But the truth is that they get more stressed than us. Actually they have issues we do not consider important. And lack of language or vocabulary to express their feelings makes it difficult to cope with such a situation for them. When kids meditate they can unplug the stress and find calm inside themselves. They can feel better and may be able to explain to you later what happened earlier. The mind and body both are relaxed during meditation. This mechanism will help them cope with stress. These in turn help improve sleep patterns and emotional turmoil of the child.
Improves the functioning of brain in a positive way
kids have hyper active brains, always up to something or the other. When kids meditate it helps them increase the neuroplasticity of the brain. It can basically help them train the mind and get desired results rather than let mind wander off. Brain is the centre of emotions and functioning. So those who can control the mind can be very successful in life. It is a very small step but the changes that happen later are larger in impact. They can perform better in school academically; there will be lesser emotional meltdowns and lesser impulsive reactions. Concentration and focus can be enhanced.
Proper breathing
when kids play you will notice they have breathing problems at times. It is mostly not a major health issue just that kids are not able to breathe properly. By the means of regular meditation kids learn to regulate breathing. It has great health benefits. When kids learn this at a young age it helps them throughout their life. They are lesser prone to asthma or other breathing problems. They can perform better at sports and run longer.
Helps make class peaceful and calm
when more and more kids practice and follow meditation on regular basis it is easier for the teacher to handle them. There can be routine time of silence time in the class. This helps the kids calm their mind and concentrate. The sound clutter is reduced and the teacher too is able to think well and not get easily disturbed. Else this is very taxing to the ears and brain of the teacher as well. Most of the time is wasted in maintaining order of the class rather than any fruitful studies or games. The kids become respectful of the teacher and other fellow students.
Psychological bonding
families that meditate together can feel a bond from within. There is an unspoken conversation and respect for each other. The kids are able to express their feelings freely to all the members and there is no guilt or hidden feelings. Such kids grow up to be emotionally balanced. They are better at coping with situations as and when they arise. These kids do not fall back for support each time; they indeed become independent in the thinking process at a young age.
Enhanced focus
regular meditation not only calms the mind but also relaxes and eases the body. The stress is relieved from body parts. Medication can also be reduced with the help of meditation. And when the body is relaxed the attention span of a person is increased. It is generally noticed that kids lack focus, they find it very hard to stay attentive at the same spot for long. Their mind wanders off very easily. To reduce all these problems meditation on regular basis is very effective.
Meditation for Kids sleep
Better sleep: brain of kids is so busy throughout the day that they find it difficult to go to sleep easily. Their subconscious mind is full of thoughts all the time.
Meditation will allow quicker and deeper sleep. Meditation for Kids sleep is a way of doing meditation before winding up. If meditation is done before sleep time it will help relax the mind so that the child is well rested in the morning when he or she gets up. This in turn also improves the immune system.
The child will be full of energy and mentally ready for school in the morning when they wake up.
Yoga meditation for Kids
What is Yoga meditation for Kids ? The whole world today understands the importance for Yoga. Children derive huge benefits from yoga. Physically, this increases their flexibility , strength, coordination and awareness of the body.
What’s more, their concentration and sense of calm and relaxation is improving. Doing yoga, exercising children, playing, connecting more profoundly with the inner self and developing an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. Yoga brings the wonderful inner light to the surface which all children have.
Meditation is an important part of Yoga and we all know that. Important is how to teach this Yoga meditation for kids. And this is where I call it as 30 seconds meditation. Between every Yoga asana you can ask the child to take a 30 second breathing break where they just breath in and out and in the process count their breathe.
Ask them to do it only for 30 seconds. Once they get habituated this can be increased. This way you can inculcate the habit of meditation in kids.
You might also like this post: Toddler Yoga Poses
Meditation app for kids
You can try these meditation app for kids which I have found to be effective,
Children’s Bedtime Meditations for Sleep & Calm
One of the best meditation app for kids, Diviniti Publishing ‘s superb high quality children’s meditation app features a number of children’s bedtime meditation stories by best-selling children’s audio authors Nic & Sam, Christiane Kerr, Glenn Harrold, Christiane Kerr, Lynda Hudson, Dr Elizabeth Scott, Heather Bestel and Jan Yoxall.
The app includes 6 completely free meditations for children in bedtime, plus many more meditations for children in mindfulness available as in-app purchases.
Check this out at play store :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sleepmeditations.childernsbedtime
New Horizon: Kids Meditation & Sleep Stories
With over 25 million YouTube views for this meditation app for kids, parents , teachers and therapists around the world are using this Meditations and Sleep Stories to help kids!
Key Features of this app
- Kid Friendly: No Ads
- Trusted and proven Creators
- More than 100 Audios and Climbing!
- Sleep, Meditation & Stories categories (with a message)
- Material revised regularly
- Used internationally by the community, therapists and teachers
- Build Favorite Meditations playlists
- Watch content offline by downloading option
Avilable at below link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.newhorizonholisticcentre.app
Meditation app for kids – calmness, mindfulness, sleep
This app offers calming sounds of nature to help calm and focus children. A calm, reassuring voice offers audio guidance, step by step, on how to meditate and relax your children.
Check this out on Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=skycap.kidsmeditation
Ninja Focus: Mindfulness & Sleep for Kids
This is another Meditation app for kids which you can try.
Designed with the aid of child development specialists, behavioral pediatricians, yoga teachers, mindfulness practitioners, parents and school leaders, Ninja Focus promotes healthy behavior with its variety of guided meditations, bedtime stories, yoga flows and poses and music for children ages 3-12. Finally … an app that provides screen time for healthy, promoting positive behaviors and personal growth in a gamelike setting.
Kids get a better health as they have a well rested and relaxed body. A happy mind gives a healthy body. As a result school attendance will be improved. Lesser exam stress, as memory will be improved and brain will be lesser anxious. All this will result in a well behaved child.