By Vikas Malkani
5 October 2016
Meditation
is a simple but effective technique that has several beneficial effects on our
children’s emotional, mental and intellectual development. It helps children
connect with their inner strengths, sleep better and develop better social
interactions. It also helps them to manage stress, stay calm and respond to
challenges rather than get overwhelmed by them.
Meditation
helps children in a variety of ways. It helps reduce stress, strengthens
the immune system, can improve relationships at home & at school, decreases
aggressiveness and anxieties, improves behaviour and attitude, improves focus,
memory & concentration and promotes inner peace.
Meditation
has also proven effective in helping kids release negative thoughts and
behaviours and in building self-confidence. Mindfulness and meditation are
fantastic tools that kids can learn at an early age which will help them
throughout their lives.
Most of
what parents want for their kids, emotionally, socially and personally, is
possible through meditation. In fact, the impact of meditation on kids can be
life-changing.
There are
thousands of studies showing the positive impact of meditation on our health
and well-being. Here are some of the positive traits and skills meditation
brings in children.
1) Self-Management - Kids learn to become more aware of their own
bodies and their reaction to stress so that they can better take control of
their emotional and physical states. This ability to calm themselves when they
experience stress is an invaluable tool, and leads them to have a more positive
outlook on life and to be more confident.
2) Increased Focus - Children learn how to focus their attention and
concentration. This helps them read, study and learn more efficiently. Here is
an example - when an elementary school in the Midwest did eight weeks of
meditation with their third-graders, teachers reported significantly less
hyperactive behaviour, ADHD symptoms, and inattentiveness in their students.
3) Enhanced Self-Esteem - Meditation helps kids learn
how to pay attention to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. In turn, they
are able to be more empathetic and more compassionate toward others. They even
become better listeners. Students in various high schools have reported
significant boosts in self-esteem from their meditation practice.
4) Creative Thinking - Children are naturally very
creative, but often they don’t fully tune in to their creative wellspring.
Meditation leads to an increased ability for children to tap into their natural
creativity. At Leiden University, psychologists have found that, after doing
short meditation exercises, participants performed better on tasks that
required them to generate new creative ideas.
5) Inner Calmness – It’s interesting to note that many
elementary-aged children use entertainment technology, video games, texting,
TV, etc., for up to 7.5 hours a day on average! This technology encourages fast
paced and frenetic mind activity and a culture of multi-tasking. Children are
especially susceptible to the side effects of too much technology, such as
shorter attention span, less patience, anxiety and nervousness. It’s very
important to counterbalance all this exposure to technology with some quiet
time, and meditation is the perfect complement.
6) Personal Growth - As children grow, they learn who they are and
what makes them happy. Meditation teaches them self-awareness. By looking
inside themselves, they find out what they’re passionate about and what they
want to do in life. They understand their own reactions better and can learn to
self-regulate when they are triggered. They develop a certain independence and
can follow their own intuition instead of just following the crowd.
The
nature of the mind, when stressed, is to jump from thought to thought like a
monkey. If there is tension, then the mind cannot be calm. Meditation gives
them a healthy rest from the ‘monkey mind’ so they can function more
effectively and with clarity. Additionally, the child’s creativity will flow best
when their mind is freed from the demands of tension and stress.
7) Overcoming Fear – Fear is another challenge for children as they
are growing up in this fast-paced world. Fears, such as not being accepted and
not having friends as well as the primal fears of death and losing loved ones,
can trouble children. Emotional stability is essential for healthy growth.
Meditation
helps children cope with the emotions of frustration and fear. It helps to
balance the whole system by supporting emotional development and gives rest to
the mind so that they are not overwhelmed by their strong feelings.
Vikas Malkani is an internationally renowned teacher of
meditation and mindfulness classes in Singapore. He is also the author of
the best-selling book ‘The Little Manual of Meditation’.
