Meditation for Children with Illness
Meditation and mindfulness are research-validated practices that offer real benefits for children and adults. Meditation relaxes the mind and calms the body, which helps relieve stress and physical symptoms of illness. The benefits increase exponentially when meditation is practiced over a period of time. If your child is ill, you may be wondering how your child can meditate, and if meditation can be done in a hospital room or while they are recovering at home from treatments. The answer to both is a resounding YES! Let’s look at some easy ways you can introduce and support your warrior’s meditation and mindfulness practice.
What is meditation?
Quite simply, meditation is the practice of focusing attention. Attention can be focused on breath, a sound, a color, a smell, and an object…anything they choose. With focused attention, the brain settles, the body relaxes, and the benefits begin. When you notice your thoughts wandering, and they will, you bring you mind back to your object of focus. It’s that simple.
What are some benefits of meditation?
There are so many evidence-based benefits of meditation. Children who meditate often experience:
-Less anxiety
-An increase in feel-good hormones like endorphins
-More positivity
-Reduced symptoms of pain and illness
-Enhanced empathy
-Increased emotional regulation
-More body awareness
-Better sleep
When kids aren’t feeling well physically, it makes sense that they experience more anxiety, depression, loneliness and feelings of hopelessness. Meditation can help, and it’s really easy to start and maintain a meditation practice.
How to Teach Children Meditation
1. Enter a Quiet Place
If the only quiet you have is in a hospital room with machines beeping, that is just fine. Explain that meditation is really about finding the quiet place deep inside of yourself, wherever you are. Invite your child to settle in to whatever space they are in. If they are comfortable, ask them to close their eyes and feel like they are melting into the chair, bed, mat or cushion. (Closing the eyes helps minimize distractions, but if they are not comfortable doing so, no worries, they can meditate with their eyes wide open, or simply by looking downward.) If they are able, ask them to notice their body. Can they feel their feet on the ground, the place where their body is supported by the bed, chair or cushion? Can they feel the way their clothes/pajamas touch their body? Do they feel any pain or sickness in their body? They are just bringing awareness to what they feel, they are not judging the feelings or labeling them good or bad. They might say, “I feel a tummy ache or a pain near my incision.” Becoming aware of their body in their surroundings is called grounding. Grounding keeps them in the here and now and helps them become more aware of their body. This is important for all children, but especially for warriors who need to hone the skill of “body listening” to help them notice symptoms, flares, and what helps them feel better. Warriors with body listening skills are better equipped to help their parents and medical team support them with care.
2. Set an Intention
Setting an intention for meditation is a way to bring your heart and mind into alignment, and gives children a feeling of control over their practice. This is especially important for sick children who often have little control over their lives and often feel that something is being done to them. A child may set an intentions like “I will feel calmer after meditating” or “Meditation will help my body feel better” or “I will learn to love my body more after meditating.” Help your child find an intention that is meaningful for them. They can even write this intention down in a journal or on a piece of paper.
3. Find an Anchor
The breath is often used as an anchor in meditation, but taking slow, deep breaths can sometimes be hard for children who are ill or recently had surgery. Help your child find an anchor that works for them. That might be the breath, or it could be a teddy bear, soft music, the blue sky out the window, the scent of an essential oil, or a mantra. If your child wants to use a mantra, keep it simple. Something like, “I am calm” or “All is well, I’m okay.”
4. Begin Meditation
Encourage your child to focus on their anchor. They might take slow, gentle breaths. They might listen to a guided meditation that invites them to imagine themselves wrapped in a magic blanket that makes them feel calm and relaxed. They might hold a smooth stone or some soft modeling dough and focus on its textures, temperature, and feeling in their hands.
5. Keep it Short
It’s best to have shorter, or “micro” meditation sessions as your child begins their practice. Kids, and many adults, need to slowly develop their “meditation muscles” and consistent, micro meditations are a good way to do that. Begin with a minute or two, and then add to the time as your child is ready.
6. Back to the Present Moment
When your child is done meditating, invite them to gently bring themselves back to the present moment. They might want to open their eyes, gently wiggle their fingers and toes, express gratitude for their meditation time, or look around their space.
Easy Micro Meditation Exercises
1. Float on a Cloud: Play gentle music and have your child imagine they are relaxing on the top of a cloud, floating through the clear, blue sky.
2. Take 5: Have your child notice one thing they can see, hear, smell, touch and taste.
3. Be a Tree: Imagine you are a tree, with roots that go deep into the ground, and branches that reach up to the sky. Relax being a tree, feeling connected to the Earth, the wind, the sky and sun.
Meditation doesn’t promise to cure any illness, but it can make your warrior’s journey a little easier, and help them feel less anxious and more in control.
Written by Janis Gioia, MAEd.
Janis Gioia, MAEd, is a meditation teacher and former special education teacher and the creator of Wee Meditate. Wee Meditate is a meditation platform that teaches kids meditation in a storybook world with a magical dragon and his forest animal friends.