Why Meditate?

I am always interested in learning about the beliefs and practices of other religions.  Meditation is a core part of Buddhism, and has become quite mainstream in the west in recent years.  There have been various scientific studies on how being in a meditative state affects the brain.  A recent study found that only 8 weeks of regular meditation can physically change how the brain reacts to stimulus.  

"The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala -- a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion -- to images with emotional content," says Gaëlle Desbordes, PhD, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. "This is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state." Science Daily

There have not been any studies (to my limited knowledge) on the physical affects of meditation on the brains of children and young people but teachers and other educators who have taught their classes meditative techniques and taken time in class to practice have seen better focus and ability to learn and deal with stress.  Children with behavioural issues such as ADHD have also been found to benefit from meditation.  Study by University of Phoenix

I took the guided meditation below from Buddha Net which has several others available and lots of information on meditation for adults.   

Settle your child in a comfortable position as if you are about to tell them a bedtime story.  They do not need to be lying down or sitting cross legged but in which ever position they will be comfortable for a few minutes.  Encourage your child to close their eyes so they are not distracted by the world around them but do not force the issue.  

Speak clearly and slowly and feel free to pause to allow your child some time visualise the colours and to feel the different qualities within them.

(Through this meditation the children discover their innate virtues and potentials)

Feel your body becoming lighter and lighter. See all the colours of the rainbow. Feel your body becoming all of the colours of the rainbow.

Slowly, you are now giving out red colour. Your whole body becomes red colour. Feel yourself giving out energy and strength. You are now full of energy and strength.

Slowly, you are now giving out orange colour. Your whole body becomes orange colour. Feel yourself giving out happiness and joy. You are now full of happiness and joy.

Slowly, you are now giving out yellow colour. Your whole body becomes yellow colour. Feel yourself giving out intelligence. You are now full of intelligence.

Slowly, you are now giving out green colour. Your whole body becomes green colour. Feel yourself giving out harmony and friendship. You are now full of harmony and friendship.

Slowly, you are now giving out blue colour. Your whole body becomes blue colour. Feel yourself giving out peace. You are now full of peace.

Slowly, you are now giving out indigo colour. Your whole body becomes indigo colour. Feel yourself giving out gentleness. You are now full of gentleness.

Slowly, you are now giving out violet colour. Your whole body becomes violet colour. Feel yourself giving out beauty and self-respect. You are now full of beauty and self-respect.

You are the rainbow, your colours are going out everywhere. Feel yourself getting bigger and bigger, your colours going out further and further, until they cover up this whole room, then further until they cover the whole country, and still further until they cover the whole world. As you spread out all the colours, you are also spreading out energy, happiness, intelligence, friendship, peace, gentleness and beauty. You spread out even further and become even bigger. Now your colours of light are spreading throughout the whole universe. You are as big as the whole universe, your light shines out in every direction in space.

Slowly, all the colours changed into a stream of white light. This white light is now flowing down the top of your head down to your heart. Feel all the white light going into your heart.