Jaipur’s kids are practicing meditation this summer but in a fun way. If you think of a kid’s life, it feels like they have the most stress-free life since they have nothing actually to worry about (job, rent, groceries, responsibilities, etc.). But yoga experts in the city say that kids also have their share of worries, anxieties, fears and stress.
Parents are enrolling their kids as young as five years old in meditation classes so as to help them cope up with their share of stress, build their immunity and to sharpen their brains and concentration skills. However, the mediation classes for kids aren’t the typical meditation sessions’ type. Meditation classes for kids are built in a more creative and fun way so as to make them an enjoyable yet beneficial affair for the kids.
One fun way is ‘dance meditation’. Yes, a city based yoga expert named Dhaka Ram is running the Yoga Peace Centre in Shastri Nagar. He organizes meditation classes for kids aged 5-18 twice a month, where he makes the kids meditate through dance. They play some music and ask the kids to stand still when the music stops. The kids are then asked to close their eyes and concentrate on their breathing for a few seconds. And once the music plays they start dancing again. Kids also enjoy chanting ‘Om’, which is good for improving their concentration levels.
There is no kid who doesn’t enjoy playing games. Yoga experts have learned to utilize the kids love for games to make them meditate and do ‘asanas’. Some fun games include concentrating on a single dot and taking positions of a frog or a monkey.
At the Art of Living Centre in Jaipur, they start with story-telling exercise and later take things forward to some quick ‘asanas’ and chanting ‘Om’ and ‘Gayatri mantra’ at the end.
Kids say that practicing yoga and meditation have helped them get more disciplined and do better in academics. Also, doing creative things boosts their creativity as well as confidence to try different things in life.