Lisa Desmond - Baby Buddhas: A Guide for Teaching Meditation to Children

Recently when asked, What does it feel like to meditate? Avery said, I open my heart and have loving feelings, all the while gesturing to her heart and mind.

Mother of two-year-old Avery

T he meditations in this book will give children a tool they can use in their daily lives, a tool that will last a lifetime. I have seen meditation work every day with the preschool children I teach. I have observed children who are in pain from the loss of a loved one, children who are sad, fearful, hyperactive, or angry, become calm, relaxed, and at peace with themselves and the world around them through meditation. It helps them to fall asleep and calms them when they are afraid, upset, or worried. It gives them a way to comfort themselves in times of grief and sorrow. It helps children with learning difficulties, attention deficits, and chronic or life-threatening illnesses build self-esteem and confidence through acceptance and understanding. I have seen the joy on a childs face when we do a meditation celebrating his or her birthday or the birthday of a sibling. I have seen relief on a childs face after he or she has sent love to a deceased relative or pet. Parents also see the benefits of meditation throughout the day. Children are Ommming themselves to sleep, sending love to friends and family whom they miss, and setting up a meditation space and meditating on their own, as they help themselves deal with fears like darkness and separation or celebrate a beautiful sunset or the arrival of a new brother or sister. Meditation gives children a way to send peace, joy, and love into a world they have yet to understand and gives them a way to take the time to be thankful and give gratitude for all they have, for the people who love them, and for the world they live in.

While I have found in my studies many styles of meditation interesting and enriching, the Tibetan Buddhist, Hindu, and Native American meditations are the ones that resonate with me most and are the ones that are reflected within this book. I had powerful and life-enhancing teachings from Tibetan monks at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal and Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist scholars and guides in Nepal and Tibet. While in Asia, I observed how spirituality was everywhere in these peoples culturein their architecture, their paintings and music, their speech, their every action and gesture. It became apparent to me that while Western cultures delved outside the self, Eastern cultures delved within. These trips reinforced my belief that children need to learn how to fill themselves and live their lives from the inside out. They can either spend their lives wondering who they are, searching outside of themselves for all the answers, or they can find a place of balance, harmony, and knowingness within. I have found that meditation provides a way and allows a childs true and authentic self to come forth and shine.

I had been teaching a traditional morning program in my home for children eighteen-months to three years old. As I became more interested in meditation, my home began to reflect my interests and the changes taking place within myself. I started playing calm, soothing, and healing music. I began collecting crystals, bells, chimes, singing bowls, Buddha statues, Indian rattles, and angels. I created altars for the sacred objects I brought home and with each new item the childrens curiosity grew. They would ask: Could I please hold that crystal? Who is that statue? Can you ring that bell? Can you show me how the singing bowl works? Whats that angels name? Could I shake that rattle? I changed the popular kids-style music I played to the more calming, soothing music I had begun listening to myself and saw, heard, and felt a real difference in the energy of the children. They were quieter and seemed more at peace. I began teaching the children about vibrationthat the sound of OM is a vibration. That OM is in everything and everyone and that OM is the sound of love.