Purpose:
- Meditation: Introduction
- Meditation: Setting the Stage
- Meditation: Introduction to Lessons
- Meditation: Quick Meditation
- Meditation: The Candle
- Meditation: Modified Candle For Children
- Meditation: Beads
- Meditation: Direct Seeing
- Approaching Therapy
Consider initiating time for meditation to begin your sessions. You should allow the child long enough to clear her mind and focus her attention on the task at hand (whatever activities you have lined up). Silencing the mind is a necessary element in good mental health. This does not mean you must be stupid, it simply means that just because you ‘can’ think it doesn’t mean you have to, and certainly not all of the time. Practice simply ‘being aware’, focusing on the outside world more than the inside world.
Procedure:
- Stare at a lit candle for 2 minutes as an opening activity.
- Ensure the room is quiet and free of unnecessary distractions. Turn off all media and communication devices.
- Take a few deep breaths before you begin.
- Encourage the child to simply observe her thoughts and not pursue them, like letting water settle by keeping your hands off of it. Offer something like “it’s ok if you think of something, like if something comes into your mind or imagination, just try to return your attention to the flame and continue to pay attention to your breathing”. Even very young children will respond to instructions like this as they are very easy to understand.
- See Meditation: The Candle and Meditation: Modified Candle For Children for more information on this method.