Guided Meditation for Children

Let’s go on an adventure!

But, instead of rushing out the front door, let’s go on an adventure within, to a beautiful place inside, in our thoughts …

Lying on the bed, floor, carpet, or the lawn or beach in warm weather, stretch out on your back, arms and legs resting easily.  Close your eyes, let your body go limp as a rag doll, while counting to 10 in your mind.

Lying so still and relaxed, keeping your eyes closed, walk through the inner doorway in your mind onto the beach, on a warm sunny day.

In your mind, just feel yourself standing still for a moment looking around, seeing the waves wash against the shoreline in their regular rhythms, over and over again.

While watching the regular pattern of the waves, just breathe in and out, evenly in and out, over and over again.

Watch the waves, while breathing evenly in and out.

Enjoy the relaxed feeling in your own body that is lying so limply on the bed or carpet. Feel whole and comfortable in your resting body and mind.

When enough time has passed, begin to come back to your everyday active self. Stretch out those limp arms and legs, take a deep breath, sit up.

Do you feel your new energy, all set and ready to go again!

Content Children and Spirituality

New research shows spirituality is a major factor in children’s overall happiness.

A study conducted by the University of British Columbia measured how
a child’s spirituality, and factors like temperament, affect the
child’s sense of well being.

“Our goal was to see whether there’s a relation between spirituality
and happiness,” said Mark Holder, an associate professor of psychology
and the study’s co-author. “We knew going in that there was such a
relation in adults, so we took multiple measures of spirituality and
happiness in children.”

Spirituality accounted for about five percent of happiness in adults, but a surprising 16.5 percent of happiness among children.

“From our perspective, it’s a whopping big effect,” Holder said. “I
expected it to be much less. I thought their spirituality would be too
immature to account for their well-being.”

The study tested 315 children ages 9 to 12.

Next, researchers hope to survey children in a country where Christianity is not prominent and compare the results.