Do your kids struggle at school because of stress?
Too much homework?
Too many tests?
Social dramas?
Whatever the reason or cause, we are told over and over that our kids are more stressed than ever before. A study from Stanford School of Medicine said the number of kids treated for depression doubled, between 1995 and 2001.
My two girls are young enough to not have hit this problem yet and I would do anything to help them maintain balance in their teenage years. And there may well be a solution...
Film director David Lynch has set up a Foundation which provides funds for students to learn to meditate through Transcendental Meditation:
"In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence—bliss—the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation."
Wow. What an idea.
Research shows all kinds of benefits come with this type of mediation, including increased intelligence, improved academic performance, increased self-development, increased calmness, reduced anxiety, decreased depression, improved behavior among adolescents and reduced alcoholism.
So if you want to get started meditating with your kids now (young or teens, this will help) this video will give you some guidance for step 1 - learning to breathe.
I couldn't find any link to the video with this article, so was unable to access it. A probable barrier to this--I have outraged parents by even trying to do some simple meditation work in my classes because in this conservative community, this ancient technique is labeled as a dangerous, "new age" practice which opens kids' minds to the "influence of the devil."
Hi Gerry,
after a short discussion with my tech-junkie brother, here's what I heard - the problem could be that you don't have the newest version of Adobe Flash Player. You need version 10.0 to view the videos. You can go to this site to download the newest version: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
Hope this works, if it doesn't, let me know and I schedule a new chat with my bro:)
Melissa
this is such a great vidio, it explains learning how to breath in such simple, practical terms. thanks melissa and sharen.