Tomorrow I’m doing a little presentation to my daughter’s preschool class on meditation. Last year I cobbled together a draft plan and put out some feelers to get some sort of family meditation drop-in thing going at the school (actually, more likely over at The Harwood next to the school) but it never really took root. There was definitely some interest from parents, and the school was totally receptive, but I had a hard time finding teachers/guides and not enough time to really pursue the idea properly.
A couple months ago the idea came up again and I talked to my daughter’s teachers about doing a 15-minute presentation in the classroom for 2-3 weeks in a row, and they liked the idea. So, even though I don’t have a really experienced presenter I figure I’ll just do it myself. The kids are 3 to 6 years old so I doubt they’ll challenge my authority on the subject. (But you never know. And a kid mob sounds super scary.)
Anyway, I’m just going to talk to the kids for a bit about why it’s good and healthy for your brain and body when you find time to be quiet, calm and relaxed. And how finding quiet time to sit and let their thoughts settle will help them feel more peaceful and loving. I’ll read this book, Peaceful Piggy Meditation, which is great — my kids love it. I totally recommend it.
As much as I’ve tried to get a regular meditation practice going myself, I rarely do more than a few minutes at a time and it’s sporadic. The spark of the idea behind the family meditation stuff last year was my own self-interest: I realized I’d have to integrate my kids into my own meditation practice at some level, otherwise it just won’t happen. The kids and I did little meditation sessions for a while but never got regular about it. A sticking point is that doing family meditation pretty much only works schedule-wise in the morning, which means getting up earlier, and honestly it’s just been hard to face the cold mornings of the winter. Warmer lighter mornings will be better. And I’m hoping that doing these presentations helps kick me into gear. We’ll see.
I would want to try this is shades of orange and yellow to remind me of the setting sun over the sea where I used to live.