Meditation is the most important practice for calming the mind which can help us to lead a healthy, happy and successful life.
As such, teaching our kids how to meditate may be one of the best things we can do for them.
Whether you already practice yourself or you would like to learn to meditate alongside your child, here are our top tips for beginners.
Children of all ages, from preschool up, can learn how to meditate. Beginning practice early can be an invaluable tool for when kids hit the teenage years.
By giving them the tools they need to practice, and joining them while they do it, your child can learn how to create moments of calm, bring about self-awareness, and begin to connect their mind with their body.
All key elements of the practice which will help children at all stages of life.
By teaching your children to meditate, you are giving them literal peace of mind for their lifetime.
In this guide to learning and teaching mediattaion for beginners, you will learn:
- How to Meditate in 6 Easy Steps
- What Happens to Your Body When You Meditate
- How to Turn Meditation into a Habit
- Beginner Tips for Meditation
Meditation Guide for Beginners
Meditation is an invaluable tool for relaxation with many health benefits for both body and mind.
It can help to ward off the physical damage caused by stress, boosts your immune function and helps both body and mind to relax.
Meditation involves silencing our mind as a way to relax the whole self.
The core of meditation is to focus and eventually quiet your mind.
As you get better at it, you will find that you can meditate anywhere, anytime but to begin with it will require some effort and planning.
So, just how do you start meditating?
Here are a few simple steps on how to learn to meditate:
How to Meditate in 6 Easy Steps
1. Make time
1. Make time
When starting to learn how to meditate, you'll need to set aside enough time in your daily routine for meditation.
It can be any time of the day, so make sure it is a time that fits in with your daily routine on a weekday.
With school day mornings being so hectic, finding time to relax and meditate after school and before bedtime may be best.
Purists recommend morning meditation because your body is not tired and your mind is still fresh, but work out what time is best for you and your child.
2. Find a quiet space
Once you find the time to meditate, you need to choose a suitable space to meditate in.
Choose a space that is calming and relaxing and away from all noise and distractions.
Turn off the television set, your house phone and mobile phones or your handphone.
You could also put on some gentle, calming music that is repetitive and gentle but some people find even this too distracting.
3. Relax
Sit on the floor or a level area of ground.
You don't need to be in a special position, the most important thing is that you are relaxed but try to keep your arms and legs relaxed and not tense.
Remember to keep your back straight as this will help with your breathing.
Try to relax your whole body.
Now start searching for any part of your body that is not relaxed. It could be your facial muscles or certain parts of your body. Try relaxing all of them.
4. Control your thoughts
As you begin to relax try to control your thoughts.
Remember that you control your own thoughts and not the other way round.
Reject all the negative thoughts and try to empty your mind.
You need to be patient. Don’t expect that you’ll be able to successfully silence your mind on your first try.
As the old adage goes, if you were told to not think of a pink elephant, your mind will straight away think of a pink elephant.
That is how difficult it is. Remember to be patient.
5. Concentrate on something
It may be hard to control your thoughts through the power of your mind alone.
So to silence your mind, try to focus your mind on something. This is often easier for beginners.
Choose something to focus your attention on.
It may be a simple mantra or you may find it easier to concentrate on a flower or a candle.
You could also try listening to your heart beat and try to focus on that.
You could also try listening to your heart beat and try to focus on that.
6. Silence your mind
Once you are focused, now you can clear up your mind.
This requires discipline and practice so it is perfectly normal if you are not able to master it immediately.
Once you are able to focus, you can now focus on silencing your mind.
Once you are able to focus, you can now focus on silencing your mind.
Remember, be patient and you too will soon be able to enjoy the benefits that meditation has to offer.
Meditation is something done with intensity and focus so, once you have achieved that, you have reached the pinnacle of meditation.
Give it a try at home today and you’ll find yourself feeling better than you ever have before!
Learn alongside your child and you'll be giving them a useful tool for life.
Read on for more tips in your meditation journey and some handy hints for beginners.
What Happens to Your Body When You Meditate
As you begin your meditation journey, you will soon discover that not only does it help your mind, but your body as well.
Here are some different things that might happen to your body as you meditate more and more:
1. You Reach Optimal Relaxation
Naturally, your body becomes very relaxed when you are meditating and the more you practice, the easier it will be to relax and release stress from head to toe.
During a beginner’s meditation practice, you often use the method of allowing your mind to feel into each part of your body and releasing tension.
You focus your feeling on your face, ears, neck, arms, legs, from head to toe.
You channel any tension, then you imagine the tension or discomfort is being released.
By the time you reach the soles of your feet, you are fully relaxed.
2. It Can Release Tension
Not only will you be relaxed, but if you are experiencing chronic pain in parts of your body, the release of tension takes the comfort to an entirely new level.
When you meditate and become more relaxed, it can reduce cortisol levels in your body, which actually helps to reduce pain and discomfort.
If you struggle with PMS cramps, muscle aches, inflammation in your joints, or back pain, this can at least be temporarily relieved during the meditation practice.
3. Your Heart Rate and Breathing is Regulated
There have been quite a few studies on the physical health benefits of meditating, and one of them is the fact that it can help to lower your resting heart rate.
This is important if you tend to have a higher heart rate that might cause high blood pressure and even put you at a risk for stroke or heart attack.
With meditation, your body is calming and relaxing, and that often means breathing at a more normal page and reducing your heart rate and blood pressure.
To benefit even more on a physical level, try different chants that will help to connect your mind and body, such as repeating a phrase that brings in more positive energy, or one for specific issues, like reducing pain or lowering your blood pressure.
This can be an invaluable tool for teenagers experiencing stress and anxiety too.
It may take a little time before you notice these changes in your body, but it is no mystery why meditation is recommended for overall health and wellness, not to mention the mental and emotional benefits you get from it.
How to Turn Meditation into a Habit
To get the most from meditation you need to practice regularly and the easiest way to achieve this is to make it a daily habit.
Here are some ways to do that:
1. Choose a Trigger for Meditation
A trigger is a word, phrase, time of day, or situation that reminds you that you need to do your meditation practice.
This will often depend on your schedule, whether you are doing it at a certain time of the day, or the main reason for meditating.
If you are meditating for stress relief, naturally experiencing stress will be your trigger.
For other people, it is a phrase they tell themselves once a day, or the trigger is something like waking up for their morning routine.
Choose something that you do every day to 'hook' your meditation practice on if you want to turn it into a daily habit.
2. Commit to Daily Meditation
Committing to meditation every day is what is really going to turn it into a habit.
You want to do it every day in a way that makes it part of your schedule.
Commit to it by posting a tracker schedule on your wall, adding it to your phone to get reminders each day, or journaling about meditation.
All of these will really help you commit to the practice.
If you are learning alongside your child you can be each other's accountability partner which will help.
3. Add it to Your Daily Routine
This is similar to scheduling the meditation sessions, but it can help to really create a routine around your meditation practice.
This can include doing the same things before and after meditating, such as adding in yoga or taking a warm bath to relax.
You might also want to journal around this time, have your morning coffee or evening cup of tea, or meditate as the last thing you do before sleep since it relaxes your body and mind.
Create a routine that makes sense to you, works with your schedule and circumstances, and will encourage you to meditate on a regular basis.
4. Remind Yourself of the Benefits
Still need a little more of a push? Remind yourself of the benefits!
Think about why you want to meditate in the first place, why do you want to turn this into a habit?
Think of all the benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to helping you sleep better and even providing some natural anti-aging benefits.
There is so much that it can do for you, and the more you meditate and learn this practice, the better off you will be.
Beginner Tips for Meditation
Meditation is not the easiest thing to do, but it is something everyone can learn how to do with the right methods.
Here are some hints and tips for beginners that will help you develop your practice:
1. Start with Shorter Sessions
If you are struggling with meditation in the beginning, don’t worry! It gets easier the more you do it.
Just keep at it and don’t give up.
One thing you can do now to help with your meditation as a beginner is to start with shorter sessions.
Don’t try to go for 30-45 minute meditation sessions until you really believe you can do it for that long.
Start with just a minute or two of deep breathing, then gradually increase how long you do it for.
2. Practice Every Day
Meditation, like anything you learn how to do, requires practice.
Don’t try it once or twice and give up just because it is difficult.
Yes – it is hard in the beginning, but mastery takes practice!
Start meditating each and every day, even if you just start with a minute at a time.
When you are brand new, you could also start by listening to guided meditations as a way to ease into the practice before attempting solo meditation sessions.
3. Be Aware of Your Surroundings
It is a good idea to always be mindful of your surroundings when you are meditating.
This begins by creating a relaxing space for meditation, but is also useful when you are doing mindful meditation, or meditating outside the home.
With mindful meditation, you are not necessarily closing your eyes and closing off the world, but instead are paying close attention to everything around you, all your senses, and what is going on in that moment.
In the case of meditation on the go, you will be clearing your mind for activities like walking in nature, running, swimming, driving, and listening to music, where you pay attention to your surroundings and use them in order to help you meditate better.
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4. Keep it Simple
Always remember to keep meditation simple.
Don’t try to do hypnosis or deep meditation during your first few sessions.
Start small with just breathing exercises for a few minutes at a time, then gradually with more practice, it will become easier to reach different levels of meditation.
With regular practice and commitment you can begin a meditation practice that will have manifold health and wellbeing benefits for you and your child.
Meditation is an amazing tool that takes dedication and effort to learn and master, but with time you will have acquired the ability to overcome - or at least deal with - many of life's stresses in a healthy and positive way.
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