Benefits of Meditating With Your Toddler:

1. Spend time together as a family. Any time you spend with your child provides another chance to connect and strengthen your relationship. Children tend to mimic everything they see so they may already be curious about your meditation sessions.
   
2. Help your child to focus. They may have limited attention spans, but they will gradually improve their concentration with practice. Start off small to avoid frustration. Do not expect too much too soon.
3. Make time to relax. Short breaks will give you and your family a little more peace on busy days. Do you you battle over nap times? Try turning the TV off and sitting down together quietly. This will have a calming effect and may make it easier for your toddler to fall asleep.
   
4. Take a more constructive view of time-outs. Meditation can help your little one view time-outs as a good thing rather than punishment. Try to sit down together when you are both happy. Your child might see how taking a few minutes to calm their mind makes them feel better. They may even resist time-outs less even when they are upset.
5. Encourage lifelong health. Many studies confirm that regular meditation improves mental and physical health. You are providing your child techniques that will make life easier during adolescence and adulthood.

How to Meditate With Your Toddler:

1. Be a calm role model. Little children are very responsive to their parent’s emotional state. When you display a tranquil mind, it is much easier for your child to feel secure and peaceful.
2. Keep your expectations realistic. Most toddlers cannot sit still for very long. Expect to be quiet and still for only a few minutes at a time. You and your child will enjoy your sessions more if you make the inevitable distractions part of the fun.
3. Open and close with a song. Pick songs with simple, cheerful lyrics that are easy to sing. It will help you both get you in the mood.
4. Practice deep breathing and good posture. Learning to breathe correctly and sit up straight can be mastered early in life. Even small children can learn to breathe slower and from their abdomen.
5. Buy some fun props. Even if your budget is limited, you can pick up some items that will arouse your toddler’s interest. Get a bell that they can ring to call you both to attention. Go shopping together and let them pick out a small cushion in their favorite color.
6. Use simple mantras. Help your child choose words that will be meaningful for them. They may want to recite words like “peace” or “happy.” Make a game out of it.
7. Visualize. Let them participate in naming people who you love including grandparents and family pets. Try describing an imaginary place or maybe even a garden filled with pretty plants, water, and rocks.
8. Discuss your experience. You will both get more out of your sessions if you connect them to your daily lives. Talk with your children about how meditating makes them feel. Encourage them to make suggestions for additional activities.
9. Look for guidance. There are many resources where you can find helpful instructions. Yoga studios or local community centers may offer classes geared for parents and children. Try finding books at your local library or search for websites about meditation and yoga for children.

Meditation is an effective way to help you and your toddler enjoy greater peace of mind. Start off gradually and keep it playful. You might be amazed at the positive effect it has on both of you.  

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What Works for You?

There is no one method that works for everybody. If you pick one method and it’s not working for you but you keep trying it, you are not going to be able to enjoy any benefits and you may end up giving up.

To avoid this pitfall, take the time to try different methods until you find one that works for you.

Using Meditation in Stressful Situations

Meditation will certainly help you through a stressful situation, however, it’s not something most beginners are able to do well. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking meditation is the problem when your attempts are ineffective.  

Only meditate when you’re relatively calm and most importantly, you have mastered meditation.

Meditating for Long Periods of Time

The quality of your meditation time is much more important than the quantity of it. Make sure you’re not forcing yourself to spend hours in meditation when you’re still learning. Meditation is something that takes time to learn and requires practice.  As a novice, you’re not going to be able to do it for hours just yet.

Take several breaks while meditating and don’t push yourself to meditate for extended periods of time.

Following Guided Meditations Too Much

Even though it may be a good way to get started with meditation, sticking with guided meditations for too long can hold you back. Meditation is a deeply personal experience. Relying only on guided meditations won’t help you reach the next level of meditation.

Once you have mastered meditation, then you can start using only self-guided meditation.

Allowing for Too Many Distractions

Even though you may benefit from some soft music playing in the background to help you focus, this may become a distraction that will keep you from being able to meditate well.

Find a quiet place to mediate and shut off the music. Eliminate every distraction.

Getting Frustrated

The point of meditation is to relax your mind and body. Many beginners fall into this pitfall of becoming frustrated when they cannot get it right at first. If you get frustrated or angry with yourself while meditating, it will make it even harder for you to stay focused on your goal.

Meditation takes time and practice to master.  Give yourself a lot of room to make mistakes at the beginning.

Above all, do not give up! Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a meditation expert who might be able to tell you what you’re doing wrong. They might be able to give you ideas that will get you back on track. People learn at different speeds.  

Be determined to succeed and you will be able to master meditation.

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Hemi-Sync® helps you safely alter your brain waves with multi-layered patterns of sound frequencies. When you hear these through stereo headphones or speakers, your brain responds by producing a third sound (called a binaural beat) that encourages the desired brain wave activity.

This is how binaural beating works:
A sound played in the left ear is heard as a single tone. A sound played in the right ear is also heard as a single tone. When played together the vibrato perceived is called binaural beating.

What does this mean for you?
Hemi-Sync® can help you experience enhanced mental, physical, and emotional states, by combining verbal guidance, music, pink sound and/or other audio effects with the binaural beats. The particular elements for each recording are carefully selected and integrated with the appropriate Hemi-Sync® sound frequencies to enhance the desired effect.

It all happens in the brain. The brain controls all body activities, ranging from heart rate and breathing to emotion, learning, and memory. It is even thought to influence the immune system’s response to disease. It sets humans apart from all other species by allowing us to achieve scientific breakthroughs, composing masterpieces of literature, art, and music. The brain is what makes us human. The extent of the brain’s capabilities is unknown; it is the most complex living structure known in the universe.

The brain is divided into two hemispheres—left and right. The left hemisphere has been linked with verbal skills, rational, logical, and analytical thinking. The right hemisphere has been linked with visual/spatial skills, emotion, musical aptitude, intuition, and imaginative thought. There is a reason why we have two hemispheres: they are both necessary and complementary, and they function best when they are functioning together. It is well known that the brain is an electrochemical organ; researchers have speculated that a fully functioning brain can generate as much as 10 watts of electrical power. Even though this electrical power is very limited, it does occur in very specific ways that are characteristic of the human brain. Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brain waves.

There are four basic categories of brain waves: Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.

Our brains are always generating Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta beats at the same time. When we say a person is in a Beta, Alpha, Theta or Delta state, it only means that is the strongest signal being detected at that time.

Beta brain waves
Bete brain waves are the fastest frequencies ranging from 14 cycles per second up to 38 cycles per second. Beta is your normal thinking state, your active external awareness and thought process. Without Beta you would not be able to function in the outside world.

Alpha brain waves
Alpha brain waves are the brain waves of relaxed detached awareness, visualization, sensory imagery and light reverie. Ranging between about 9 cycles per second and 14 cycles per second, Alpha is the gateway to meditation and provides a bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind.

Theta brain waves
Theta brainwaves are the subconscious mind. Ranging from about 4 cycles per second up to 8 cycles per second, Theta is present in dreaming sleep and provides the experience of deep meditation when you meditate. Theta also contains the storehouse of creative inspiration and is where you often have your spiritual connection. Theta provides the “peak” in the peak experience.

Delta brain waves
Delta brain waves are the unconscious mind, the deep sleep state, ranging from about 4 cycles per second down to 0.5 cycles per second. When present in combination with other waves in a waking state, Delta acts as a form of radar – seeking out information – reaching out to understand on the deepest unconscious level things that we can’t understand through the thought process. Delta provides intuition, empathetic attunement, and instinctual insight. It is also the brain wave most often associated with energy healing.

Hemi-Sync® produces very high quality binaural beat based music addressing all brain wave states.  I have used these products for years to improve my sleeping, concentration, focus, creativity and relaxation. 

There is currently a great holiday sale underway making this a great time to give it a try. 

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Outer Practices

1. Breathe deep. Engaging with your breath is a practice you can do anywhere. Pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation. You’ll feel stronger and calmer.
2. Do yoga. Yoga connects your mind, body, and breath. As a bonus, down dog and other poses will open up your hips so you can sit more comfortably if you decide to meditate later.
3. Relax your muscles. Progressive relaxation facilitates awareness, as well as sleep. Scan your body from head to foot. Systematically tense and release each muscle.
4. Arrange flowers. Ikebana was originally used to create shrine offerings, but you can use it to connect with nature and express yourself. Take a class or pick up a book at the library to learn about the techniques.
5. Learn martial arts. Karate and other martial arts involve much more than fighting. Regardless of what you’ve seen in the movies, building your character is more important than chopping blocks of wood by hand.
6. Drink tea. Tea ceremonies are another tradition to encourage mindfulness. If you’re doing this at home, try giving your full attention to any food or drink.
7. Play Go. The board game Go looks a little like chess with black and white marbles. Have fun while you’re learning about concepts like causation and interdependence.

Inner Mindfulness Practices

1. Slow down. Moving deliberately promotes mindfulness. Consider the purpose behind your daily activities. Take time to enjoy life instead of rushing from one activity to another.
2. Give your full attention to one task at a time. Turn off your phone when you’re having dinner with your family. Listen closely to ordinary conversations and falling rain.
3. Let go of judgements. Accept your thoughts, feelings, and experiences without guilt or shame. Love yourself for who you are now. Take pleasure in learning and growing. Forgive yourself and others for disappointments and mistakes.
4. Live in the present. Concentrate on today rather than regretting the past or worrying about the future. Take pleasure in ordinary things like the smell of coffee or the texture of soft cotton sheets.

Making Meditation Easier

1. Keep it brief. You may be reluctant to meditate because you tried to do too much too soon. Sit down for a few minutes at first and increase your time gradually.
2. Walk and stretch. If your knees ache when you sit too long, you can meditate on your feet. Walk around your living room or back yard. Take small steps and notice how your feet make contact with the ground.
3. Manage stress. Does meditation stir up troubling emotions for you? It’s natural to feel uneasy at times during your practice when you’re facing thoughts that you may usually keep under wraps. Remember that you’re making progress each time you accept the truth and find a way to deal with it.

You don’t have to miss out on the benefits of mindfulness just because you’re uncomfortable sitting for long periods or troubled by disturbing thoughts. Your morning commute or a formal tea ceremony can also be occasions to connect with the here and now.

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