Meditation

Meditation is a lovely way to relax before bedtime, for adults and children alike and we touch on it briefly in our article about bedtime routine , but here we look at it in more detail, the benefits, how it works and also some suggested places to find these meditations. What is meditation? Meditation is becoming more mainstream, which is a really positive thing as we will discover, but for some the thought of meditation conjures up images of people sitting cross legged, humming with peace and love signs all around them.

While you can of course meditate cross-legged (humming optional), meditation can take many forms and is more about tuning into either yourself or your surroundings, allowing you to observe feelings without judgement.

What are the benefits of meditation? There are lots of benefits to meditating, the most obvious one is reducing stress, and this is something that can bring many people to meditation.

It can help relieve anxiety, improve your emotional health, and have really positive effects on both your physical and mental wellbeing.

It can also help calm the mind, preparing you or your child for sleep, which can be really helpful particularly if your child, or you, struggle to drift off at night. How to meditate There are many ways to meditate and there is no right or wrong way to do it.

There are plenty of apps and websites offering lots of guided meditations to help you on your journey, but for the purpose of this article we will focus on how to meditate to help your child have a better night’s sleep. First things first, they need to get rid of all their wriggles, so give them a minute to shake their wriggles out before relaxing into bed and getting as comfortable as they can, with their head on their pillow facing up.

Now there are lots of breathing techniques and stories that can help your child wind down and relax for a good night’s sleep, but we will focus on a simple breathing technique here. Ask your child to place their hands on their tummy, with their fingers just touching at the tips. They need to slowly fill their tummy with air so their hand’s part and count to three slowly. Then slowly empty their tummy for 4 counts, until their hands touch again Repeat this breathing exercise 3 times. Then working from their toes to their head, ask your child to squeeze that body part as tight as they can as they breath in (for 3 counts) and then release that body part when they breath out (for 4 counts), when you say the body part.

Starting with… their toes and feet, bottom of their legs, top of their legs, bottom, tummy, hands, arms, shoulders, face and finally their whole body. This exercise will help your child relax their muscles and unwind, hopefully helping them fall into a deep sleep. If you are looking for more story-based mediations, then there are plenty to choose from.

A story meditation is usually a beautiful relaxing story often with lovely music, designed to help your child drift off to sleep, either while listening or shortly after.

Below we list a few apps or websites which have some great sleep mediation exercises or stories designed especially for children which will hopefully help your child have a restful night’s sleep – goodnight! Headspace Moshi Sleepiest Stop, Breathe & Think Kids

Sources: Headspace Eve Sleep

Here we look at it in more detail, the benefits, how it works and also some suggested places to find these meditations.