Children's Meditation: Many Ways to Connect Within

Mallika's Chopra's post on www.Intent.com about the TM movement and children's meditation touched my heart and reminded me how I've been quietly helping children meditate for the past 25 years, not  calling it "meditation." At least not till recently. Because when I started in the inner city schools in Los Angeles, it was not possible to mention the word meditate. Knowing the positive power of the breath, and following my own Eastern practice, instead I taught the "balloon breath," which of course is a basic form of  meditation. "It's the way in" one young child informed me. The way in to the vast inner world that awaits each of us when we slow down and connect to our core wisdom. 

Here's a sample script from my forthcoming book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Perigee/Penguin NY, August 4, 2009). I find that  a child as young as four can learn this. I often start with three balloon breaths eyes opened, followed by three balloon breaths eyes closed. Slowly work your way up to a minute, then add another minute every two weeks till you reach five minutes. And if you find you're wanting more, lots of variations will be found in the book - or perhaps in another post. 

Many blessings,

Dr. Charlotte

www.ImageryForKids.com

“Imagine blowing up a balloon. Then picture letting the air out slowly, until the balloon goes flat. Can you see it? In a minute, we’re going to pretend your stomach is a balloon. You’re going to take a deep breath in, all the way down to your lower belly, hold it for a few seconds, then let it go gently.

“Get ready by putting your hands on your belly, about two inches below your bellybutton. Good.

“Now, take a few minutes to think about your breathing. Take a slow deep breath. Feel it going in and out… in and out. That’s right. Breathe slowly so your belly and your hands rise and fall. Good.

“Let’s breathe in even slower – to the count of one…two…three.

“Now breathe out just as slowly…one…two…three.

“Take a few minutes to practice…

 “When you’re ready, pay attention to your hands and your feet. Where are they? What are they touching?

“Now open your eyes slowly.”

 

 

Teenage Stress - Implications for Adult Health

We all know that stress affects us. We see its effects in our clear (or not) thinking, our shorter fuses, our tired bodies at the end of the day. We also figure our kids are resilient and can get through a lot of what life doles out. However, here's an alert for its long-term affects on our youth.

A new study through UCLA (Andrew J. Fuligni and colleagues) has shown that normal teens who reported negative interpersonal interactions (with family, friends, or school personnel), experienced stress that not only affected their psychological state, but were associated with higher levels of an inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein, CRP). CRP has been associated with developing cardiovascular disease later in life. 

Mark Wheeler from UCLA writes the results suggest "the association of interpersonal stress with inflammation exists regardless of individual teens' psychological appraisal of stressful experiences or any tendency to be particularly sensitive to social rejection." 

Go to the UCLA Newsroom website http://newsroom.ucla.edu "Teenage Stress Has Implications for Adult Health" for the full article.

What to do? Arm your kid with stress-busting practices such as the "balloon breath," a basic form of meditation. Meditation has been shown to be a great antidote to the stresses of modern life. You'll be able to read more about this and other transformational tips in my upcoming book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success, being published by Perigee/Penguin NY August 4th (www.amazon.com for preorders).

Warmly,

Dr. Charlotte

Welcome back and Intro to Intent.com

It's been ages since I've blogged and all because I've been hard at work finishing up my new book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success to be published August 4th, 2009 by Perigee/Penguin NY. I'm thrilled and hope the information will help many, many families and professionals.

Today I want to introduce you to a wonderful website, www.Intent.com. It's a premier wellness site where people can connect and support each other's intentions relating to personal, social, and global wellness.

Deepak Chopra, Don Miquel Ruiz, Debbie Ford, Marianne Williamson, Larry Dossey, Ed Begley Jr., Barbara Marx Hubbard, Fran Drescher, and Russell Simmons all contribute to Intent. And now, so do I. In fact, just for today they are featuring one of my articles on their Home page with three other contributors. Just go to www.Intent.com and look for the box of changing photos near the top of the page and click to the right, "Can't Sleep? Try Imagery." Deepak Chopra is also featured today with "What is Dharma."

His daughter, Mallika, created the site out of her dream to "create a place where we can all find inspiration, connect with others, and become who we aspire to be as individuals, as a society, and as a planet."

I invite you to this special site and hope you all find inspiration and connection.

Warmly,

Dr. Charlotte

Tools For Raising Healthy Children: Guided Imagery For Kids

Dear Community,

I'm delighted to share "Tools for Raising Healthy Children: Guided Imagery For Kids." an interview for the web based radio show Vibrant Living.

To listen, go to http://www.ImageryForKids.com/media.asp. It's the top Radio Interview - just press the Play button.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Warmly,

Dr. Charlotte

How Violence in the Media Affects Kids

For all the talk about how watching violent TV or playing violent computer games affects our children, there are many that think it's no big deal. But it really is. I've reviewed an information packed book by Jerome and Dorothy Singer, Imagination and Play in the Electronic Age, and they have compiled much of the research in the area and the results are clear. Over and over again. There is no good reason to expose our kids to violent TV, movies, video games, or internet. Please go to my review at  www.imageryforkids.com/art_imagination.asp for the full explanation. 

On the other hand, there is good news about other types of TV, video and computer games. That's in the review as well, with lots of ideas on what to choose and how to stimulate your child's imagination.

And if you haven't heard enough after reading my review, you can order the book for yourself through their publisher at www.baywood.com.

Happy watching and playing!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, a day celebrating love seems like a good day to connect back to all. It's been ages since I've posted.  I've been working on my book (to be published by Perigee Spring 2009) and taking care of kids at the office, so my lovely Blog has been waiting. But I couldn't resist sharing these wise words from kids on Love and Marriage. Sure made me smile - hope it does you too. Please send in your favorite kid quotes!

Kids on Love and Marriage....
What would you do on a first date that was turning sour?
"I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns." Craig, age 9

When is it OK to kiss someone?
"The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that." Curt, age 7

How do you decide who to marry?
"No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with." Kirsten, age 10

Is it better to be single or married?
"Single is better, for the reason that I wouldn't want to change diapers. If I did get married, I'd just phone my mother and have her come over for some coffee and diaper-changing." Kirsten, age 10

What is the right age to be married?
"Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then." Camille, age 10

How can a stranger tell if two people are married?
"You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." Derrick, age 8

How would the world be different if people didn't get married?
There would sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?" Kelvin, age 8

How would you make a marriage work?
"Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck." Ricky, age 10

Welcome Back

You will no doubt be receiving lots of messages about coming back to school after this long summer vacation. I hope you had a relaxing one. Some of the kids that see me have been to off to sleep-away camp, some in town with lots of one week camps like swimming, surfing, computer, dance, art - you name it, there seems to be a camp for it. Others have been traveling the globe - visiting family across the states or seeing Europe for the first time. Not one child has said his vacation was too long; a bit boring at times, but no one has actually wanted to go back to school early. They are worried about the pressure to do well, about the homework that seems to take hours, and about falling behind before things even begin.

Going back to school presents an opportunity to improve last year's ways. One of the most effective is to help your children organize before they are overwhelmed by their work. Those large poster size "month a page" calendars at Staples or Office Depot do wonders for organizing subjects and assignments. Some kids really enjoy color coding - you can color code by subject or activity. For example, each subject can have a different color (e.g. Math - green, Science - blue, English - red) or use a different color for each required activity (e.g. homework- green, tests - red, reading assignments - black). Use whatever appeals to your kids.

Then have your child write down every assignment and test the day it comes in. Depending on their age they may need more or less help from you. Then break down the requirements of the assignment and write the bits up in each daily box. If your child must read a book and then write a book report in three weeks, then ask how many pages are in the book? 250? Okay, if she wants to finish the book in two weeks so she has a week to write the report, she must read 20 pages a day. Have your child write that down in each calendar box (e.g. pgs 1-20, 21-40, etc). It's fun to cross off when you've completed a task. Want to finish the report 3 days early? Then write a first draft the first day, leave it for a day (maybe have someone read it to edit or suggestions) then she'll have another couple of days to write a second and perhaps third draft. I usually like to build in some wiggle room for emergencies (which seem to always come up). You get the idea.

Let me know how you do with this organization - what works for you, what other ideas you have, and if you would like further support.

Warmly,

Dr. Charlotte