Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation to children    

by Mrs Andrea Davis, Family Adviser.

 

During 2019, I became an accredited teacher with The British School of Meditation. I had researched mindfulness as part of therapeutic interventions and read some interesting scientific evidence for its benefits for all children. This led me to a growing interest in meditation, which is a tool for achieving mindfulness. It is a recommended pathway by the NHS for children who start to display anxious behaviours as a safe, natural way of supporting them.

With parental permission, I have since used some mindfulness style activities with some children I work with in our school and have seen it as a positive influence on them, leading to completion of some emotional awareness work in a peaceful environment.

The benefits of regular meditation to health and well-being in general are immense and have proven to be beneficial to everyone from all walks of life, regardless of age, gender and culture.  It has been practised for centuries, traditionally as part of spiritual or religious beliefs but is now often a regular practise for many.

In today’s modern world that feels like it is non-stop, for twenty-four hours around the clock, it is hard for some children to switch off, even for a few minutes each day, which subsequently leads to stressful lives. Meditation is a proven tool that helps relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety.

 

Physiological benefits:

Lower blood pressure

Lower heart rate

Help release and relieve tension

Help in managing pain

Improve immune system

Improve quality of sleep

 

Emotional benefits:

Build resilience

Regulate own emotions

Capacity to react to situations appropriately and clarify thoughts.

Gives time and space for reflection

 Reduces ‘negative automatic thoughts’

 

Mental benefits:

Creates an open mind set and helps understand thoughts

Allow a quietening of the mind

Connect with and build human relationships

Regular opportunity to off-load busy minds

Let go of things in the past or present, that cannot be changed

Have a focused, down time to empty minds

Productive time afterwards - not a shared partial attention to everything

Supports traumatic events, everyday lifestyles or mind overload.

 

Spiritual benefits:

Meditation gives time and space to explore feelings

Opportunity to be at one with yourself

Reflection on the day or events

Provides uplifting feeling of gratitude and peace for things in life

Capacity to accept, understand and celebrate people’s differences

Feel connection to others and to the natural environment

Good peaceful balance to the day

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Please speak to Mrs Davis, if you are interested in any further information or wish for your child/family to be considered for some meditation sessions.