In the highly competitive modern world, more and more cases of problem caused by stress are shown. This global phenomenal affects the quality of life everywhere, for and for everyone especially our children, the untainted young minds who happen to be born and raised in this dynamic, perfectionistic era.

From a seminar, The Ceaseless Society: What Happens to Our Mind Body and Spirit When we Just Never Stop?
Jon Kabat-Zinn, a Professor and the founder of Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School suggested that in the mid of Modern days’ chaos, we can “ get entrained into the rhythms of society” and as a result, formed a habits that prone to tensions and raising the bar of unhappiness so high; that we tends to live in the future instead of living in the present moment, and not surprising “ we are perpetually dissatisfied ” with ourselves and with probably everything.

For example, A distress of our modern society can be caused by something very simple such as the commute. Shockingly, a study from Louisiana University has shown that from observing a rush hour traffic in L.A., the stress of sitting in traffic can lead to more crime.

The research stated that “ The extreme traffic (above the 95th percentile) significantly increases domestic violence by approximately 6 percent.
 

The Cause of Stress in Children and How it effects their health and behaviour?

 Young children’s mind is still tender and easily affected by tension. There are many negative results caused by stress for Childs.

From an article, Effects of Stress on the Modern Child by Dr. Gail Gross. There is an evidence that stress can result an undeveloped brain in children because “ The immature brain of childhood is extremely vulnerable to stress.”

If children is not taught to handle emotion correctly, and choose the way to handle everyday problem and negativity, wisely,  it will slow their thinking, learning and studying process which can stop them to tap in their fullest potential.

Stress for children come from various factors such as Family problem, School Stress, Social Pressure, Excessive time with electronic devices and many more causes. Children will form  Aggressive behaviour if they cannot manage their emotion when facing with problem or stress. It will lead to other negative behaviours such as violence and bullying problem.

The worst problem that can be caused by stress is suicide. Among countries around the world, both developed and developing, the growing suicide rate for young people keeps rising more and more each year. In United State, the youngest age of children who commit suicide is 5 years old, and the shocking statistic in 2017 reveals that in every five days, there will be one child (Age 5 - 13 ) who commit suicide. In Japan and Singapore, the most common cause of teen suicide is failing exams or having lower grades than they and their parents’ expectations.

How Meditation helps with Children’s Stress Problem?

Meditation, Yoga, and other mindfulness practices can be solutions to help children cope with stress effectively.
Schools and many Youth Center adopt Meditating to their curriculums.

From Melissa Eisler, 3 Kid- Friendly Meditations Your Children will Love, after adopting Meditation habit for some period of time, it is shown to build students’ attentiveness, respect for fellow classmates, self control. It also promote empathy, reducing stress, hyperactive behavior, ADHD symptoms, and depression. For the benefit on academic aspect, higher grades are shown for students who participate in mindfulness programs, from study group.

Moreover, mindfulness and meditation program promotes positivity thinking for children. It helps build self confidence, learn to respect oneself and others and sense of appreciation.
 

For elementary-aged kids, deep breathing meditation helps them balance emotion and encourage other positive problem- solving skills which as a result reduce bullying.
 

Simple Meditations for Children

There are various ways to meditate, range from a serious, elaborate religious practice to a simple relaxing exercise which is integrated well with Yoga, Tai Chi or Spa experience.

Nonetheless, as for a child friendly purpose, to encourage children to meditate, it should have some fun element or a game added to the practice. In doing so, children will be more excited to adopt this useful habit into their lives easily. They will have a positive outlook on meditation and can easily keep up with adopting habit in a long run.

Here are some ideas for Children Meditations that you can use with your children or students.

1.Imagine there is a balloon in the body.
This technique, as well as technique number 2 and 3 are suggested by Melissa Eiser from The Chopra Center. To tapping in the awareness of your breathing, you can teach your children to imagine that their stomach has a balloon. Then every time that they breathe in and out, visualize a balloon pumping in and out of air, on their own pace and rhythm.

2.Follow the breath
Teach your child to follow the command of his/her breath. By identify if your children are comfortable with being a leader or a follower, the leaders will choose picture themselves as their own minds, and start acknowledge their nature of breathing. For the followers, they can imagine their idol or someone they can look up to as a leader who bring them inside their minds and guide them to follow their own pattern of breathing.

3.Just Relax
This easy technique does not require much of an effort. Some people call this technique as body- scanning. It is a meditation that based on the awareness of your body. Just sit, relax and pay attention to your feeling on different body parts.

The core of being mindful is not to compete, or achieving anything. It is as simple as being yourself. Accepting yourself, as it is. As Jon Kabat-Zinn mentioned, the real meaning of meditation is to embrace “an effortless mindfulness.” It is pay purposeful attention to the present moment, in a nonjudgmental way.

4.Loving Kindness Meditation

In an article,  More than just a game: Yoga for school-age children by Marlynn Wei from Harvard Health Blog. Wei suggested a meditation method that promote love and positivity in life.
 

By sitting or lying comfortably in a suitable places, tell your children to close their eyes and visualize about someone they love. Then in your mind, hold them tight in your heart and continue to think about that person.

This technique is an instant, good feeling booster that is useful when children deal with current stress or negativity in their lives.

These are just some pieces of advices about meditation that is suitable for children as a way to reduce stress. There are many more resources that you can search further on many websites in the internet.

However, please be mindful that meditation is an effective way of aiding. It is an additional helper to build stronger minds for your children. It cannot be the only source to rely on if the stress or the abuse already caused damaged. Medical Advice and Therapy will be needed for such cases.