We all know of the benefits meditation can bring us, but we may be unaware of the benefits of meditation for kids. It is now that trends are changing, with many parents realizing the benefits of meditation for their children, and with some schools now introducing it as part of their curriculum. By starting at such an early age, kids become more aware and prepared for the challenges of puberty and adulthood.
Types of Meditation
There are three types of meditation which can be introduced to children, each one having different core objectives and ways of being taught. You should look at all of these and see which one you feel your child would have more success in learning.
Guided Meditation
Here a teacher or parent uses visual image techniques to help kids imagine more relaxing places and events, and this can help children learn more about meditation. There are free guided meditations available for kids on YouTube.
Mindful Meditation
This teaches children how to be more aware and present in the moment, as they focus on breathing and observing emotions. They also become more in tune with their minds and bodies.
Mantra Meditation
Children are taught how to repeat a word or phrase which helps them relax and focus without any distractions.
Self-Confidence and Social Skills
When practicing meditation, kids are taught how to learn to pay attention to their own thoughts, inner emotions, and feelings. They have more empathy and compassionate behavior towards others, and in the process become much better at listening. They also learn how to release any negative thoughts and behaviors that may have accumulated which can lower their self-esteem.
With an increase in self-confidence, children are less likely to indulge in addictive activities such as smoking and drinking, at a later stage. Not only will kids come to have a much greater sense of personal well-being, they will also come to have a greater sense of emotional well-being, where they are able to show a greater ability to love and be loved. Essentially, this can mean the chances of a child becoming depressed would be greatly reduced.
Self-Regulation and Self-awareness
Kids will learn how to become more aware of their bodies, more about what happens when they are stressed, and how they react to it. It is a valuable tool for kids to be able to calm themselves and it will help them gain a more positive outlook on their future life. While using meditation on a regular basis, kids decrease inner stress about body issues they may have, including stress from school, anxieties and worries.
As kids are growing, they start to identify who they are and what things make them happy. Through meditation, they learn to be much more self-aware and to find what they are passionate about. They may learn what they want to achieve in life. They learn to understand their own reactions better and how to regulate their responses.
Once kids start to understand these things, their relationships improve, and they can cope with peer pressure in a more relaxed way. Additionally, it becomes less of an issue and they come to learn from the value of experiences without becoming overwhelmed by them.
Attention, Concentration, and Creativity
Through meditation, kids will come to understand and learn how to focus their concentration, and this can help them read and study more efficiently. Naturally, kids are of a creative mind, although they don’t fully use their creative talents. With meditation, kids are taught how to tap into their natural creativity. As kids learn to focus their energies and reduce their tensions, they perform better not only in school where they can retain facts more easily, but in athletic activities and other social performance.
Physical Benefits
As kids have a highly active mind, they may not be unable to unwind at the end of the day and get to sleep as they should. Thankfully, with meditation, they learn how to wind down and relax, and this will help to improve the quality of their sleep, which helps the brain to sort out any mental clutter from the day.
Whilst in meditation, a child will come to learn how to relax not only the mind but also their muscles, and this can lead to less muscular tension and helps lead to more relaxing growth. A sign of stress in children is headaches, and even these can be greatly reduced due to the calm that they experience while meditating.
In adults, it has been shown meditation can reduce the effects of high blood pressure and heart attacks. Additionally, if these effects happen to children who meditate, it will lead them to grow up much healthier and stronger. Once or three times a week would be ideal.
Author Bio:
Maria Banfield is a guest blogger and fitness lover. She enjoys contributing to websites that help individuals to grow. She has been a writer for many top websites and loves researching topics.
