Do you mediate with your children? Jeff of the Simple Truth Project shares his tips on how to stay calm and relax with your kids. Here are some of his tips to reduce stress, minimize distractions and maintain a sense calm.
For older children the following is a sleep and relaxation meditation. It will help them become aware of their bodies as you help them put each part of their body to sleep.
Have your child lie down to make them as comfortable as possible. Go slowly and speak in a soft, lulling voice as you move down their body from their head to their toes, and begin with the following script:
Close your eyes and smile to yourself. Take a deep breath into your stomach and feel the air expand your belly like a balloon gently filling with air….
Slowly take a nice slow breath in…. and out.[Softly touch or kiss their head]
Think about the top of your head and all the hair up there going to sleep. Feel it just relax and soften as you breathe softly and gently in and out. [Softly touch or kiss their forehead]
Feel that sleepiness flow down to your forehead. Just like a little stream of sleepiness. There, now your forehead is asleep. [Softly touch or kiss their ears]
Feel your sleepiness flow down to your ears. Feel them become relaxed and heavy. Feel your ears go to sleep. [Softly touch or kiss their eyebrows]
Feel your eyebrows resting, gently resting downward. They’re happy and asleep. Feel the sleep flow down to your cheeks and nose. Feel them get heavy as they go to sleep. [Softly touch or kiss their temples]
Let your temples to relax. Feel your sleep flow into them. Your temples are now asleep. [Softly touch or kiss their chin]
Now let your chin go to sleep. Relax your tongue and let it drop to the bottom of your mouth.
Feel your tongue go to sleep. Feel your throat relax as it goes to sleep.
Breathe in and let the sleep flow down to your belly. [Softly touch or kiss their stomach]
Feel your belly get full and comfortable. Feel your belly go to sleep with every breath.
Let yourself melt into the bad as the sleep flows through you.
Feel breathing, slow and regular. Breathe in that feeling of sleep. Breathe out. [If your child is asleep at any point, you can slowly leave them, or continue the meditation.]
Breathe in and let the sleep flow down your arms and into your fingers.
Let your arms sink back into the bed and your fingers relax. Feel the sleep flow deeper and deeper into you. Feel yourself sink into the sleep. Both of your arms are now asleep and heavy.
Let them sink into the bed. [Softly touch or kiss their arms] Let your hips get sleepy, and your legs.
Just sink and let the sleep fill you. Warm and comfortable and asleep.
Breathe in and let the sleep flow down your legs and into your toes. Feel safe and loved and peaceful. Just sleep and dream.
Jeff cannon is a certified Meditation Instructor, the author of The Simple Truth: Meditation for the Modern World and the founder of the Simple Truth Project. He has been called an innovator, a man with one foot in the humanities and the other in the sciences, and a man who is bringing meditation to the modern world. Jeff brings a unique ability to refine traditional meditation practices to fit the realities of the 21st Century world we all live in. His work helps clients reduce stress, manage the daily distractions that can sidetrack their lives, and provide the insight they need to transform their lives into the one they want.
Webste: jeff-cannon.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/asimpletruth
How to stay calm and relax with your kids.
