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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Zen And The Art Of Bedtime


How we turned to meditation to stop the children's evening tantrums...


It is bedtime. I am tucking my children into bed. There is a pleasing calm in the air, as they lie there, snuggled up quietly in anticipation. Bedtimes used to be a frantic battleground, marked by tantrums, sobbing and endless trips to the loo. Thankfully, all that changed the day I started slipping meditation into our bedtime routine. We started using Marneta Viegas's "Relax Kids" series – short, read-aloud meditation scripts that include journeys such as Alice in Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk (you can also buy CDs such as Christiane Kerr's Enchanting Meditation for Kids).

My seven-year-old – then five – took to them like a duck to water. Soon we were making up our own creative visualisations, including fairy castles, unicorns and climbing rainbows. Sometimes, we go into space.
But while his elder sister happily embraced the Zen life, composing meditation scripts for school (which I like to think inspired the quick sessions her teacher introduced for the class shortly afterwards) and even using them herself to lull herself back to sleep at night, her toddler brother took more cajoling. He enjoyed the visualisations, but refused to close his eyes. It did, however, keep him in bed, which was definite progress, and his twin sister thought they were wonderful. Just so long as Hello Kitty was involved (again and again and again).  (MORE)

Source: The Independent
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