Introducing meditation to children

One question I see asked a lot is "How do I get my kids to meditate?" My first response would be "Are you meditating regularly yourself?" and if the answer is no then that would be the first port of call.

Meditation is such an important part of self-care generating some alone time along with stress management and a development of self-awareness. There are so many benefits. It is so important to culture this practice for yourself before you try to introduce it to your children. They learn from watching you and if they see you cultivating this practice for yourself it will make them more intrigued than if you just whip it out with no prior warning!

Once you have developed your own regular practice, either using an app like Headspace, a book or even attending meditation classes (which I highly recommend) then you can start to introduce your children to the idea of meditation. There is no right or wrong and the best thing is to remain free and easy about it. Your kids will NOT meditate in the way that you want them to straight away. There is no right or wrong way for them to start their meditation journey. They can keep their eyes open if they want, lie down, sit down or even hang upside down or jump around the room if they want. I remember a particularly hilarious session with my son when he was 3 where the meditation was trying to get him to visualise a frog and instead he just leapt around the room pretending to actually BE a frog! I remember feeling a little frustrated at first that he wouldn't just sit down and behave but then I realised that he was only 3 and this wasn't something that came naturally to him. During our early sessions I reminded myself to be patient and just allow him to respond however he wanted to the meditation recording. It was more important that he was introduced to the idea that we were going to take time out of the day, to have a break and listening to the recording, than he be forced to sit still follow the meditation instructions precisely. 

The most important thing to remember is to try to stay free and easy with it and not let it add to your stress which is the exact opposite of what you're trying to achieve. Try to pick a time to begin with that is a quiet time in your day, maybe after school. Trying to introduce meditation at the beginning of the day when you're running around trying to get them to school is probably not a good idea. Equally last thing at night when everybody is tired and you're desperate for them to just go to sleep is also not the best plan. Meditation is a great part of a sleep routine but I wouldn't choose that time of day when you're just starting out, especially if your child is particularly resistant to wanting to engage with it. 

In my house we now meditate in the morning before school and it is part of our bedtime routine but we don't always manage to meditate every day. In the mornings if we're running late we'll make our way to school and then if there is enough time we'll do a 3 minute meditation in the car before I drop the kids off. But if we're super late then we just skip it and try to make sure we do the bedtime one. However life can get in the way and kids have a habit of disrupting routines so don't beat yourself up if you don't manage any mediations at all. Mindfulness is all about non-judgement and so there's no criticism allowed especially of yourself. Just by attempting to introduce meditation to your family's life you're doing an amazing thing. So be kind to yourself and your family and take it one day at a time. 

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