EDITOR’S NOTE: City Dads Group is working with longtime partner Dove Men+Care to create “how to” videos for the grooming products company’s “Dads Care” campaign. We will be featuring the videos and scripts our members appear in. This one features Devon Bandison of our NYC Dads Group, with a little help from his son, talking about how to teach kids to meditate.
My son and I have been meditating for about two years. We started doing about five minutes every day or every other day and then we’ve moved up to 15 minutes each morning. We find meditation is a great way to start our day. It helps us relax and stay calm, something very important during these days when so many families are home together for extended periods of time.
One common misconception about meditation is that you have to sit a certain way. You can sit on the floor, you can sit on the bed, you can actually lay down: it really is up to you and what you find most your comfortable.
Let’s look at three different types of meditation you can try with your children.
Balloon breathing
We call it this because when you inhale through your nose, your belly actually goes out like a balloon inflating. You close your eyes, inhale through your nose and fill that belly up and then exhale through your mouth so your belly deflates.
Guided meditation
This is when someone talks you through the process as you’re doing it. Sometimes they’ll tell you to focus on your breathing. Sometimes, they’ll tell you to focus on a sensation or a particular thought. You can find meditation apps — some free, some paid — podcasts, videos and audio to help you through this if you don’t know how or if you are not around to guide your child.
Silent meditation
This is exactly what is. There’s no sound. Nobody’s talking. It’s just you and your breathing and your thoughts. We like this style because it allows us to stay with our thoughts and what emphasize is that there’s no good or bad thoughts. Thoughts are kind of like a cloud in the sky. One moment, you just notice and, eventually, it will pass.
Photo: © Konstantin Yuganov / Adobe Stock.
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