Many of us learned how to meditate much later in life. But suppose we had begun to benefit from it much earlier—would it have been able to help us deal with the emotional turmoil of puberty? facilitated more effective test preparation for us? taught us how to interact kindly with our parents and classmates? Yes, yes, and again, says the research.

At first, it might seem absurd to ask a child to practice meditation. Many children find it challenging to remain still for even 30 seconds, much less 10 minutes. However, it is not completely impossible to instruct children in the basics of meditation. With the right approach, parents, teachers, caregivers, and devoted family members can teach meditation to children to help them learn how to calm their minds and settle into their bodies, improving their ability to process their emotions, retain new information, and improve focus — and do that much sooner than we’d think.

The advantages of meditation for children

Adults who practice mindfulness and meditation at work consistently perform better in their professional lives. Furthermore, younger children might already be full-time students while they are decades away from starting a career. Meditation can have a demonstrable, beneficial effect in a school environment.
By enhancing working memory, one of the brain’s essential executive functions for cognitive growth and a crucial one when it comes to the development of fundamental academic skills like literacy and mathematics, meditation can help children flourish in the classroom.

It has also been demonstrated to assist children in growing a metacognitive understanding of their own learning or thought processes. As they get a greater understanding of the learning practices that are most effective for them, this ability will essentially help them become better students.

Even focus can be enhanced by meditation. In a 2019 study, it was discovered that high school students who meditated had a longer attention span than those who did not. That’s because meditation teaches the mind to become less susceptible to distraction over time.

But as we all know, meditation may be used for a variety of purposes beyond scholastic advancement. It has an effect on personal development as well. One important study discovered that practicing mindfulness meditation might boost feelings of serenity, relaxation, and self-acceptance during a time when many teens may require those qualities the most.

A strong sense of emotional intelligence—the capacity to recognize and control one’s own emotions as well as those of others—has been found to develop in young minds to be another benefit of meditation. Resilience, empathy, active listening, and humility are vital life skills that come along with increased emotional intelligence.

What age can kids start meditating?

It might seem possible for preteens or even adults to understand the basics of meditation, but what about small children? We all realize how difficult it may be to sit still. Consider how difficult it is for children when you consider how difficult it is for us as adults. Having fun and getting dirty outside is much more appealing to them than staying stationary and closing their eyes. How early should we start teaching meditation to kids?

According to research, kids have a fully formed knowledge and understanding of their own mental processes by the age of 4-5. Children start to comprehend that other people’s behavior is influenced by beliefs and desires and that these may not always be the same as their own, at around this same age. More research is demonstrating that teaching children to improve their own learning or thinking processes at a young age makes them more resilient and helps them become better learners, which goes beyond just being intellectually engaging. Given this, the ideal age to start might be between 4-5.

If your child appears enthusiastic and engaged, you might even try launching into it a little bit sooner. According to strong evidence, children will typically have developed an awareness of themselves and others by the age of three and start employing verbs like “think” and “know.”

Andy Puddicombe, the co-founder of Headspace and a former Buddhist monk, claims that we could be astonished by how well they perform even when they are young. There is this elasticity and fluidity in children’s minds that enables them to be present in the moment and free from any other thoughts or pressures, he adds, adding that it almost seems as though meditation was made for children. We can build on this and support the growth of their minds by introducing meditation and mindfulness at a young age, and we are also making meditation easy and available.

If you want to read more meditation information, the links below here belong to you:

Deeply Breathing: How it reduces your stress