Nourishing The Family Spirit: Meditations To Do Together

This course is a way for families to connect. Meditation can bring families closer as well as cultivate feelings of peace, gratitude, and love. This series is based off of the 8 Fold Path of Buddhism but can be used by any family on any mindfulness path. It can be difficult to find time to meditate as a parent. It can also be challenging to teach meditation to children. This course teaches families how to meditate together so that everyone can reap the benefits of meditation. The meditations are created with an elementary-aged child in mind but can definitely be modified for toddlers to teens. This course is also great for adults new to meditation and/or working on inner child healing. The meditations provided are varied but are all short and simple so that they may be repeated and remain fresh. These meditations are aimed at elementary children about 6 to 7 years old. With that being said, anyone from 3 and up can practice these meditations easily. I have done my best to explain each and every practice as well and keep the meditations short for shorter attention spans. This course is a journey with different meditation styles, covering breath, visualization, affirmation, mantras, gratitude, and walking meditations. Together, we will go on a journey of self-discovery and learn to be calmer and more accepting of ourselves and others. Being a former educator, I take into account different styles of learning and learning abilities. The meditations are varied as it is my hope that each person in the family can find a type of practice they enjoy and would like to return to daily. I suggest reading this introduction before starting your practice. For many families, meditation is new, and meditating together is very different from the day-to-day experience. Each audio session in this course will begin with a very brief introduction and then the meditation. After the meditation, I will share some words of advice and encouragement. You will notice that there is no music in the background of these meditations, this is because some people with different learning modalities find the music distracting. I think doing this course together could be explained as an experiment for everyone. You can have a discussion on background noise (how to just let it happen), how the family wants to sit or lie and what incense or oil scents to have (optional). I suggest using the same scent every time you meditate to create a sensory memory. I believe this helps everyone tune into meditation easier. As far as posture, my three-year-old prefers to meditate while lying on my belly and my daughter prefers to sit criss-cross applesauce. Encourage everyone to find their own comfy spot. You may want to go over imagination with younger kids and what it means if they are unfamiliar. I believe it helps to accept ahead of time that your children may not participate fully. Give them grace. During the first few meditations with my daughter, I could feel her eyes on me. I would peek under my eyelids and see her staring at me. It made me laugh. My son struggles with stillness so I just accept him rolling around. If you have older children who also struggle with stillness you may want to give them some suggestions for less distracting fidgeting such as drumming their fingers, holding something in their hands, or rolling a ball under their foot. Mala beads are used in meditation as a way to focus the mind. You may want to purchase some for your child or make one of your own. It does not have to be a true Buddhist prayer necklace with 108 beads. You and your child can get creative and make one of your own however you would like. I think it helps to have beads of different textures and sizes for the sensory aspect to help focus. Your family meditation practice is new and different. In time, your children will relax and trust the practice.