Toddler Meditation

[Carita]

x posted in nighttime parenting and toddlers

Is it possible to show them how to meditate to sleep? DS is almost 2. I have a bit of ADHD, and I think my son has some too. Enough so that bedtime is quite the ordeal. I know I have other work to do as well, but I remember having such a hard time settling down at his age, I remember the crying for my parents, I remember staying up late reading books in bed. I have done all the things I can think of in the regular parenting trick book - long routines, earlier bedtimes, etc. I know that I have a couple other things that I need to do - namely remove some hidden milk in my diet that I was trialing and try putting up blackout shades of some sort.

I had trouble settling down for sleep and going to sleep until I was in college and took a class that taught progressive relaxation to relax and to sleep. I would like to teach my son this "life skill." I tried buying a guided CD, but there was too much talking - and if it was too distracting for me, it must be too distracting for him! This is what works for me - http://www.umm.edu/sleep/relax_tech.htm - see the progressive relaxation part.

When DS was younger, we did a mommy and me yoga class, and at the end he would almost always fall asleep nursing. She had a CD she would put on, and it would do the progressive relaxation and the ohm thing at the end - sorry I don't know the vocabulary here. It was about 10 min long, very relaxing, very little talking... Maybe if I could get something like that?

anyone have experience with this?

[doubledutch]

i have found that visualization works well for my 3yo but that may be too much talking. i wonder if you could do the talking ahead of time and use a non-verbal cue during the actual meditation. what i'm thinking is, right before getting into bed, tell your toddler you're going to play a bedtime game. show your toddler tense muscles (by scrunching up your face, making a fist, etc) and how to release. it can be frozen and melted, strong and soft, or whatever concepts you think he could relate to. then have him practice relaxing whatever part of his body you touch, a couple spots, before you actually tuck in and do the meditation, just so he has a chance to giggle about it or watch it happening if needed. explain that this game is a very quiet game, eyes closed, no talking or laughing and we have to hold still. tuck in and use your hands to guide him through relaxing his body. a gentle squeeze and release might work, light massage, or just a soft touch.

you might also (during the explanation/practice) give him something to visualize in that part of his body, like a ball of light, or my ds likes to think of a blanket of clouds or snow (doesn't sound cozy, but his idea of softness i guess).

i also have ds "blow the (whatever) out" (sillies, hurts, sadness, whatever) as a way to get him to take a few deep breaths to settle down. it really works. i could not for the life of me get him to take a deep breath in, until i figured out asking him to blow a big breath out instead.

if you can get that cd or a similar one, i think that would be great! anything to create those cues, routines, involve the senses without being too stimulating . . . sounds good!

[Carita]

oooh - i like the idea of "blow the sillies out!" Those are all good ideas. Thank you!

I'll take a CD rec if anyone has one...

[Princess ConsuelaB]

I have a cd rec. My girls have these, Indigo dreams and Indigo Ocean Dreams:

http://www.amazon.com/Indigo-Dreams-...7689363&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Indigo-Ocean-D...7689363&sr=8-2

My kids are 10 and 7 now and they've been using these for about 3 years now(so since they were 7 and 4ish), I originally got them because my oldest hasn't been able to go to sleep...umm, ever. They are wonderful and they work though I haven't tried them with a toddler it's true. One of my kids likes to follow the meditation visualizations and breathing, the other kid likes to simply listen to the "story" and it's effective for them both.

[angelailona]

We have the Wanka, The Caring Elephant CD and pillow set http://www.mindworksforchildren.com/, click on educational products and scroll down to Wanka. It is amazing and has a wonderful message for young children. My son asks to listen to it regularly. Dr. Roxanne is wonderful, I have spoken to her many times. I have recently purchased The Way of the Bear and we love it. I highly recommend her work.

[greenmamato2]

Now that you mention it, I had a flashback to when I was in preschool, and they used to play these relaxation tapes for us. Sometimes there would be a really soft prompt like "imagine your favorite hammock, and feel yourself swinging in the breeze" while you heard the sounds of the ocean. It was really relaxing. Ironically the other vivid image I have from that time period was of my teacher's red high heeled shoes and her crossed legs since that's all I could see from my cot on the playroom floor lol. Its amazing the things little minds pick up and remember forever.

[PPK]

I don't have any cd rec's, but I learned in yoga teacher training that mothers and children share the same auric field for the first 2.5 years or so. I always notice a shift in ds's behavior when I do a really good meditation and feel balanced. Kids are extrememly tuned in to your vibrations, so if you can make time to do a regular meditation yourself, I'd recommend that to start.

[Carita]

Maybe I should do the CDs with him...

the CD recs are both very talkative with a whole story? i like you can hear a mindowrks sample - very soothing voice!

[Princess ConsuelaB]

Indigo and Ocean dreams are talkative with a story, but lots of soothing music and stretches for silence and breathing too. If you go to the Amazon link and click where it says available as audio or mp3 you can listen to samples.