Meditation for All Kids

By Susan Kramer

How to teach these meditations through description and illustration: sitting, walking, relaxation, instant, music, running, swinging, biking and swimming meditations, dance meditation for kids and teens, plus a chapter of longer guided meditations on virtues, and a chapter of interfaith affirmations, inspirations and prayers for everyday and holidays. For tots to teens of all abilities. Useful resource for parents, educators and clergy. 100 pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447537229

Book preview

Meditation for All Kids

Meditation for All Kids

By Susan Kramer

Meditation for All Kids

Content and Images Copyright © 2004-2015 Susan Kramer

ISBN: 978-1-4475-3722-9

Santa Barbara, USA

All Rights Reserved

Chapter I. About Meditation for All Kids

Meditation and Spiritual Living

Even from a very young age kids learn about their innate spirituality underlying all religious practices from the examples around them; with family, friends, in community gatherings, in worship services.

Prayer, meditation, and study of virtues are useful in finding peace and abiding love within, forming a foundation for becoming caring, useful adults.

Giving thanks in prayer and meditation becomes a lifelong habit when begun early. Giving thanks can be in the form of prayers from religion, uplifting verses, or spontaneously formed in the moment.

A good reason for prayer and meditation is to generate feelings of appreciation.

When we feel appreciative we are feeling happy and peaceful in that moment. In times of stress, taking time to remember one thing we do have, with appreciation, helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Daily life has moments of ups and downs; the downs more easily transformed from lemons to lemonade with the sweetness of an appreciation or uplifting verse or thankful thought.

Guidelines on Meditation and Meditative Movement

Meditation and meditative movement can be for toddlers, preschoolers, school age kids - everyone!

What is important is that the practices - poses, breathing and meditation - are adapted to suit the age and abilities of participants. Naturally babies cannot assume a posture or follow directions on how to breathe or put this leg here, and look in that direction there, while breathing in.

Formal instruction can begin only when the participants are able to follow directions and have control of their movements and breathing at the same time. But until that stage of development, or with disabled people, an assistant can gently help the student move into and hold a pose, or sit or recline for meditation.

The benefit of moving meditative poses and meditation is manifold, including:

1. Increasing physical flexibility;

2. Developing connections between the right and left brain, as the poses are done equally to the right and left;

3. Calming the mind through even breathing in the postures and meditation;

4. Non-competitive, as it is for personal development - not a team sport.

About 1975 I fell into teaching children adaptations of traditional Eastern poses and meditation suited to their abilities quite by chance, as I had been a classical ballet dancer and when no longer performing I began studying the non-competitive poses, breathing practices and meditation.

My year studying classical Hindu - Bharatanatyam dance was a background that contributed to my skill in Eastern disciplines.

Nowadays it is more common and accepted for both boys and girls to take meditative movement such as Tai chi as an alternate or additional physical regime