Meditation Singapore – 7 Benefits Of Meditation For Children

By Vikas Malkani

5 October 2016

Meditation is a simple but effective technique that has several beneficial effects on our children’s emotional, mental and intellectual development. It helps children connect with their inner strengths, sleep better and develop better social interactions. It also helps them to manage stress, stay calm and respond to challenges rather than get overwhelmed by them.

www.soulcentre.org

Meditation helps children in a variety of ways. It helps reduce stress, strengthens the immune system, can improve relationships at home & at school, decreases aggressiveness and anxieties, improves behaviour and attitude, improves focus, memory & concentration and promotes inner peace.

Meditation has also proven effective in helping kids release negative thoughts and behaviours and in building self-confidence. Mindfulness and meditation are fantastic tools that kids can learn at an early age which will help them throughout their lives.

Most of what parents want for their kids, emotionally, socially and personally, is possible through meditation. In fact, the impact of meditation on kids can be life-changing.  

There are thousands of studies showing the positive impact of meditation on our health and well-being. Here are some of the positive traits and skills meditation brings in children.

1) Self-Management - Kids learn to become more aware of their own bodies and their reaction to stress so that they can better take control of their emotional and physical states. This ability to calm themselves when they experience stress is an invaluable tool, and leads them to have a more positive outlook on life and to be more confident.

2) Increased Focus - Children learn how to focus their attention and concentration. This helps them read, study and learn more efficiently. Here is an example - when an elementary school in the Midwest did eight weeks of meditation with their third-graders, teachers reported significantly less hyperactive behaviour, ADHD symptoms, and inattentiveness in their students.

3) Enhanced Self-Esteem - Meditation helps kids learn how to pay attention to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. In turn, they are able to be more empathetic and more compassionate toward others. They even become better listeners. Students in various high schools have reported significant boosts in self-esteem from their meditation practice.

4) Creative Thinking - Children are naturally very creative, but often they don’t fully tune in to their creative wellspring. Meditation leads to an increased ability for children to tap into their natural creativity. At Leiden University, psychologists have found that, after doing short meditation exercises, participants performed better on tasks that required them to generate new creative ideas.

5) Inner Calmness – It’s interesting to note that many elementary-aged children use entertainment technology, video games, texting, TV, etc., for up to 7.5 hours a day on average! This technology encourages fast paced and frenetic mind activity and a culture of multi-tasking. Children are especially susceptible to the side effects of too much technology, such as shorter attention span, less patience, anxiety and nervousness. It’s very important to counterbalance all this exposure to technology with some quiet time, and meditation is the perfect complement.

6) Personal Growth - As children grow, they learn who they are and what makes them happy. Meditation teaches them self-awareness. By looking inside themselves, they find out what they’re passionate about and what they want to do in life. They understand their own reactions better and can learn to self-regulate when they are triggered. They develop a certain independence and can follow their own intuition instead of just following the crowd.

The nature of the mind, when stressed, is to jump from thought to thought like a monkey. If there is tension, then the mind cannot be calm. Meditation gives them a healthy rest from the ‘monkey mind’ so they can function more effectively and with clarity. Additionally, the child’s creativity will flow best when their mind is freed from the demands of tension and stress

7) Overcoming Fear – Fear is another challenge for children as they are growing up in this fast-paced world. Fears, such as not being accepted and not having friends as well as the primal fears of death and losing loved ones, can trouble children. Emotional stability is essential for healthy growth.

Meditation helps children cope with the emotions of frustration and fear. It helps to balance the whole system by supporting emotional development and gives rest to the mind so that they are not overwhelmed by their strong feelings.

Vikas Malkani is an internationally renowned teacher of meditation and mindfulness classes in Singapore. He is also the author of the best-selling book ‘The Little Manual of Meditation’.

For the next meditation class with Vikas Malkani, see here http://www.soulcentre.org/events

Reiki Demystified - What is Natural Healing?

7^th September 2016

"Imagine listening to your body and knowing how you can support it - this is the secret of natural healing."

Sally Forrest

www.soulcentre.org

Once you tune out of all the external distractions of the world, and begin to tune into yourself and your own inner messages, then miracles can happen.

Reiki natural healing is simply the ability to really connect with and listen to your own body and then use the energy of the universe to bring healing and balance to your body.

A peaceful body is in harmony with itself and is in balance.

A body with "Dis-ease" simply means that it is out of balance and harmony, it has moved away from ease and symptoms now develop.

Sally believes that if a body knows how to make itself "dis-eased" then it also knows how it can make itself healthy and whole.

All we need to do is to tune in and to listen.

Reiki is an easy to learn process whereby you can use the universal energy (the energy that makes the waves form, the wind blow, the trees bend etc.) to bring natural healing to yourself and others.

You begin to have awareness that emotions play a crucial role in our health and healing and learn to see where emotions impact and are stored in the body.

For example if you worry a lot, then your stomach area will be affected and you will have symptoms such as reflux, irritable bowel, weight gain etc.…

If you are hard on yourself, over controlling and take on too much, then you can get headaches and also shoulder issues.

Sally teaches Reiki from beginner level all the way to Certified Teacher level.

A medical pharmacist by training, Sally realised that many people in the world have no access to medicines yet can heal themselves in various ways.

This was the beginning of her journey into the mind-body connections and she has been learning and teaching for over 15 years.

Her next courses are in October and she offers both mid week and weekend dates.

Please do connect- it will be the best gift that you can give to yourself and your family.

Outer Stress Relief - How to manage your environment

Just for a moment "STOP" and think about your home, your office, your environment that you spend so much time in.

How does it feel to you?

Does it fill you with happiness, joy and peace, or is it chaotic, confused and cluttered?

Your external environment plays a significant role in your internal environment and your thoughts, your emotions and actions are all influenced by it.

With today’s fast paced world, we excel at being busy, and sometimes our environment is not a priority to us.

Also we are turning into a nation of shop-a-holics and hoarders and soon every available space is stuffed full of "possessions" and all this stuff literally wears us down, as we need to take care of it all.

So make a decision to take control of your environment.

Simplify - Simplify - Simplify is the motto!

Start with the front door / your home or office entrance, and take a look at what story it is telling to the world.

The beautiful energy of the universe enters into your space through this door, so make a point of welcoming it with appreciation and love.

5 TOP TIPS:

1. Clear away any clutter that block the energy entering into your home (both inside and outside the main door).
2. Ensure all plants are healthy, vibrant and alive.
3. Spruce up the paintwork and make the door welcoming.
4. Clean the space – a sparkling clean door and entrance is so welcoming.
5. Make it bright and attractive.

Once you do this, notice the difference.

Change will happen within a few days.

Don’t believe me? Then try it … it's amazing and it works.