Should children meditate?

Good question. I've heard arguments on both side of the aisle. Some concerned with children meditating or practicing yoga believe that such activities are more appropriate for older aged young adults. However, because at the core of both yoga and meditation is breathing and you can never be too youngto learn about the positive affects of good breathing habits. In fact, it's when we're babies that we breathe correctly, from our tummies. Learning from infantsaidsin the application of replacing shallow chestbreathing with that of a richer quality, withdiaphragmatic technique. There are a ton of activities for young people who want to practice yoga.

Here are some activities for young yogis:

  • 2 mins. of quiet time
  • Storybook telling witheyes closed
  • Using poses to express emotion
  • Singing mantras
  • Mandalas/ Coloring Books
  • Looking in the mirror repeating daily affirmations
  • Balance Pose Play
  • Self Massage of feet and hands
  • Partner Poses
  • Volunteer Service

Some Benefits to Yoga for Young Practitioners

  • Helpschildren to focus
  • Develops imagination
  • Builds confidence
  • Helps children identifyand managetheir emotions
  • Suggested for Children diagnosed with ADHD
  • Promotes awareness of the body and how it functions.

The age of 8 is most popular in regard to how early a child's suggested to begin yoga and meditation. However, there are classes with children as young as 3 offered along with mother and infant classes at many yoga studios. Most of my experience is with working with preteens and teens. Just recently I was privileged to work with a 5 year older. She could have easily been my yogi of the month, able to do supported hand stand pose by the end of the session.

Working with Teens revealed to me that young people need time to cope with the pressures of achieving in academics, fitting in to social groups and handling family disputes. They needed to escape the news headlines that affect them equally as adults. Most importantly they needed the meditation time to discover who they were and to imagine themselves to be who they dream of becoming.

For my little one, Kindergarten participant, Yoga was more like play time, an opportunity to explore what they're able to do physically with each pose. The meditation was more like story time, a good moment for children to be read to, in which their imagination is stimulated by their visualization of what's being read. Standing them in front of a mirror and having them to say good things about themselves is powerfully effective.

Thinking of hosting a young yogis camp. Hmmmmm.....

Namaste,

Eboni Pearson