Guided Meditation for Young Children
Author: LynxSeer
Most of your meditations are focused on bringing balance into your life. Meditation is a great way to calm the mind. Therefore so can your children. You can do a guided meditation with a your child (as young as a toddler) or let the older children guide themselves. I’ve found meditation a great way to have arguing siblings calm down enough to come together with their differences.
Grounding and Centering to Calm Angry or Frustrated Young Minds
Here the child will be writing numbers on the blackboards in their mind, each time they erase them they will feel more calm and collected and more ‘themselves’ without the anger and frustration. Speak in a quiet soothing voice. I’ve written this in my own voice, feel free to make it your own.
Have the child lay on their back, in front of you (don’t try to touch them, this will just increase the energy they already can’t control.
*Close your eyes taking a deep breath.
*[You’ll guide them in re-connecting to their own energy with speaking.] Begin at your feet (‘become aware of your toes, relaxing as your laying. Become aware of your ankles…then calves…then knees…etc. up through the head.)
*Feel the ground beneath you, the energy of the earth seeping into you through your shoulders and rear. Let the energy of the earth take your anger and frustration. Let your mind quiet.
*Picture a large blackboard in your mind. You are standing in front of it.
*Pick up a piece of chalk. Draw a large circle on the blackboard.
*Begin with the number 10. Draw it within the chalk circle.
*There is an eraser in your right hand.
*Use the eraser to wipe away the number in long stokes, leaving the circle intact.
*Write the number 9…….Doing this all the way down to 1 (you can also direct the calming energy…generally at number 5 I again remind them that with each number they are growing more calm.)
*Erase the number 1.
*The blackboard slowly fades from your mind.
*Take a deep breath and open your eyes.
*Take a moment before stretching your revitalized muscles awake.
Here are some tips for doing meditation with children. This is my Autumnal Equinox Guided Meditations but they can be used throughout the year, really.
Meditation with the very young child: (ages 2 – 6)
Meditation with the very young child is more teaching them to focus and ‘stop’ for a few moments. This will not last long as a young child has a hard time staying focused for more than a couple of minutes – so don’t try to make them do longer. The simplest thing you can do with a very young child (or a child who has never tried meditation) is the Bell or Gong. You can also do this technique with a crystal glass partially filled with water.
*Have the child lay in a comfortable position.
*Have them close their eyes and take a few deep breathes.
*Speak soothingly to them for a few moments to sharpen their focus: “do you hear the birds?” do you feel the breeze on your skin?
*Tell them you are going to ring the bell. Tell them to follow the sound with their ears and to not open their eyes until the sound goes quiet.
*Gently ring the bell or tap the crystal – something that makes a sound that slowly fades.
*When they open their eyes ask what they felt, how did the bell sound, etc.
*You may find a child will tell you the sound never goes away completely – this is scientifically true – the sound waves just move out of range of our hearing. Children love this concept and will tell you a million eye-opening things about the sound of the ‘bell’.
Meditation with the young child: (ages 6 – 11)
As you both sit outside, ask the child what they did this year? What was the favorite thing they did this summer? Have them describe it in detail. You can go so far as to explain how that wouldn’t have been possible without the Gods blessing you with good weather.
First Guided Meditation – Thankful for a beautiful Summer. Lets go to the beach!!
(You can also use a fountain, swimming pool, whatever kind of water the child is familiar with) {Note: I’ll tell this as I tell it, in my voice, feel free to make it your own as you know your children and what they can connect with}
*Lay down
*Close your eyes and take a few deep breathes.
*Feel your body getting heavy, as if it will sink into the ground.
*I’m going to count slowly to ten, keep breathing and relaxing {1, 2, your getting a little heavy. 3, 4, 5, your arms are too heavy to lift, 6, 7, 8, you feel the breeze softly caressing your skin, 9, 10}
*You see a hallway in front of you in your mind. There is a door at the end that is closed.
*Walk through the door onto a beach on a warm sunny day.
*In your mind, just feel yourself standing still for a moment looking around, seeing the waves wash against the shoreline in their regular rhythms, over and over again. Hear the soft whoosh of the waves. And the kee-kee of the sea gulls.
*Watching the waves, breathe with them. Take a beep breath in as the waves wash to shore, breathe out as the water recedes.
*As you breathe with the waves you feel the sun shining down on you. It feels warm and soft – like a hug. It is a hug from the Mother Goddess. She’s glad you are here, enjoying her beach.
*Enjoy this hug from the Goddess. Feel warm and comfortable and relaxed in her embrace.
*When enough time has passed, begin to come back to your everyday active self. Turn around and see the doorway again.
*Walk through the door into the hallway. I’m going to count backwards from 10 as your body wakes up. {10, you can feel slight tingles in your toes and fingers, 9, 8, your body is getting lighter, 7, 6, 5, you are again aware of the air around you, 4, 3 you can feel the ground beneath you, 2, 1, open your eyes}
*Stretch out those limp arms and legs, take a deep breath, and sit up.
*Do you feel your new energy, all set and ready to go again!
Second Guided Meditation – Thankful for a beautiful Summer. Lets go to the fields!!
*Lay down
*Close your eyes and take a few deep breathes.
*Feel your body getting heavy, as if it will sink into the ground.
*I’m going to count slowly to ten, keep breathing and relaxing {1, 2, your getting a little heavy. 3, 4, 5, your arms are too heavy to lift, 6, 7, 8, you feel the breeze softly caressing your skin, 9, 10}
*Imagine walking through a beautiful meadow on a warm sunny day.
*In your mind, just feel yourself standing still for a moment looking around, seeing the tall brightly colored wild flowers blowing in the gentle breeze, hear the breeze passing over the grass, the bees buzzing for nectar.
*Watching the flowers nodding in the breeze, breath with them. *Breathe out as the breeze blows; inhale as it ceases.
*As you breathe with the flowers you feel the sun shining down on you. It feels warm and soft – like a hug. It is a hug from the Mother Goddess. She’s glad you are here, enjoying her beautiful meadow.
*Enjoy this hug from the Goddess. Feel warm and comfortable and relaxed in her embrace. Her breath is the breeze gently caressing your skin.
*When enough time has passed, begin to come back to your everyday active self.
*I’m going to count backwards from 10 as your body wakes up. {10, you can feel slight tingles in your toes and fingers, 9, 8, your body is getting lighter, 7, 6, 5, you are again aware of the air around you, 4, 3 you can feel the ground beneath you, 2, 1, open your eyes}
*Stretch out those limp arms and legs, take a deep breath, and sit up. Do you feel your new energy, all set and ready to go again!
Meditation with the older child: (ages 11 – 14)
An older child is better able to connect by grounding and centering. They should have enough self-control to shut out outside noises and distractions (otherwise how would they do their homework..hehehe) Therefore you don’t have to do as much, you can let them develop their own minds with meditation. Especially these Sabbats meditations for thankfulness. I suggest you sit with them and do your own meditation – because as a child learns to shut out the outside world they can get a little frightened – they are so used to the stimuli.
Explain that we are thankful for all we have done and experienced through the year. You can even make a list of special events – or work on a scrapbook (I love scrapbooking with my kids) . As life goes on, it is in caring interactions that we find joy and happiness. Explain the steps of the meditation to them before beginning. As you go through your own meditation – only speak softly occasionally to move to the next step – otherwise, let the child progress on their own to fill in the mental images.
Guided Sitting Meditation:
*Sit cross-legged, back held straight, and face each other.
*Clasp your hands and let them rest in your lap.
*Close your eyes.
*Breathe easily and evenly, in and out. Silently count each breath in as one count, and each breath out as one count, till 50 counts – 50 breathes. (Breathing in is 1, breathing out is 2, etc)
*Now, while continuing to breathe evenly, take some time to think about the event or person you are most thankful for. Relive the experience (s) in your mind. What were your favorite parts? Who was there? Do you feel the sun on your skin?
*Continue breathing deeply and evenly. Imagine writing a letter of thanks to the Goddess. Thank Her for this time you so greatly enjoyed. Thank Her for your family and friends.
*Imagine folding the letter into a paper airplane and sending it to Her on the breeze.
*Continue breathing deep and evenly.
*Think about some ways you can show Her and your family your appreciation of them.
*Again become aware of your body. How do your feet feel? Your legs, torso, arms head?
*Take a final deep breath in, slowly let it out, open your eyes, stand up, and stretch.
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