Meditating with my kids

Both my kids have learnt how to incorporate a form of quiet, calm or meditation time into their daily routines.

It originally came from my desperation to find a few minutes to myself. To reset during the crazy full paced days of surviving parenting. 🙏

While never perfect, it's a skill our family intends to continue and nurture.

Here are 7 tips from our mediation journey so far.

1. Guided meditations for kids are easily available and a fantastic intro or daily exercise. Fab before bedtime. I recommend Horizon Meditations.

2. Talk with your kids about the process. Discuss the benefits and let them own the process. My kids this week have introduced sleeping bags on the floor with books during their "quiet time". Their approach has unlocked 30mins of meditation time daily for me and I’ve noticed they appear more emotionally stable as the afternoon unfolds. ⭐🙏

3. Start small and make it super easy to do. Just a couple of minutes is plenty to begin with. We started with 1 minute meditations, sitting together counting fingers and taking deep breathes in a playful way. Then we started involving yoga poses and breathing to allow more movement and playfulness.

4. Variety is helpful. Always changing the process keeps them interested and positive. It becomes obvious when they have reached the end of something. Getting creative and doing some research is well worth it.

5. Role model. Showing that you take the time to meditate, relax or rest , shows them what it looks like and teaches them to respect not only your space but their space too. My son now requests "quiet time" and they often help me prepare for my meditation by getting the eye mask and matt out.

6. Use tangible things to make a ceremony or special occasion for the activity e.g. candles (keep high and safe). I used to let my son blow them out when finished. Eye masks, yoga Matt's, books, coloring all have worked too.

7. Accept it won't always work. Having this view means you are never disappointing. Some days I get time on my own, others, I get to do something with my kids that is calming. Win Win.

Meditation is now a daily ritual in our home. I don’t pretend its perfect or that is happens all the time. However the intention for the ritual is one we enjoy and look forward to when we do make it happen.

I highly recommend a daily meditation practice no matter how small for all parents and children.

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