In my life, one of the meditation related challenges has been helping my son meditate. More specifically, helping him make meditation part of his daily routine.
We came up with the Mindful Minecraft Meditation plan together. That worked great for awhile. We’ve meditated together. He understands and has felt the benefits.
We’re even still making discoveries together. Here’s one. When he was really wound up last time, hugging him and having him focus on our slow and steady breathing helped him feel calm. It’s a technique similar to focusing on a stuffed animal as described in the video in Meditation Yields a Better Brain. In regards to focus and happiness, he has discovered a Meow Mix Mantra.
Coming at you with a disco ball and cats dancing, this remix of the old Meow Mix commercial is funny and hypnotic. With its cat theme, up-beat music, and occasional lasers coming from a cat’s eyes, the Meow Mix song [10 hours] YouTube video is something he has really latched on to. Unless you suffer from photosensitive epilepsy, you will want to play it to fully understand [warning: lots of flashing and scene changes]:
As a family, we agreed to not play it at the dinner table. However, that brings up a challenge that has not been figured out quite yet with any of his meditative practices, schedule.
Due to school and what not, kids schedules are pretty full. When not using his small allotment of iPad time, he prefers to play with toys over meditating.
I feel certain that if we used something that provided tangible feedback such as the “brain sensing headband” called Muse, the idea of meditating would be even more attractive. With the cost being in the triple digits, that’s not a gamble we want to take though.
After a family discussion, our kid decided to not meditate at this time. That of course is fine. It is a decision that many adults make. Was it because he felt something else was threatened on the schedule though?
Regardless, he is sold on the Meow Mix Mantra and it’s good enough for him meow (now). May you find your happiness too.
