Creating A Meditation Space for Children
Sitting with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and both arms laying restfully on his lap; he sat perfectly still.
As my 8 year old son took 5 minutes for himself in the family room one afternoon, I noticed something.
He does this voluntarily, daily, and loves it.
This is his own personal practice. How can we support him?
Then it hit me! He needs his own meditation space.
“If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” – Dalai Lama
Why should children meditate?
A study suggests that mindfulness meditation can help ease psychological stressors such as anxiety, depression and pain. A few observations I have made about my son so far are that he:
- Automatically pauses in frustrating situations instead of reacting quickly
- Uses meditation to calm down when angry or sad
- Spends more time observing details in his environment
What we used to start his meditation space
Here’s what we put in his space so far:
Pillows
Blankets
Table /Alter
Stones
Candle (Battery operated)
Small mirror
Picture with affirmation
Small speaker
How to use the meditation space
To prepare his space, we used this creative tip after it was set up:
Explore in nature and have your child pick a stone (earth), fill a cup with water, burn a candle (fire), and use something like a feather to represent the air element. Put the elements in the center of the room. Kids get really into this and they somehow inherently know this is creating a sacred space. Sit in a circle around the elements and begin your meditation.
Now, the space was all his.
His New Meditation Space
The meditation space turned out to be just what he needed. Hopefully he will become so comfortable with having his own space for mediation, that he will continue to setup spaces like this throughout his life. Maybe he will share this practice with his future family.
Setup a simple meditation space for your children and see what they think. It might become their favorite place to be!