My 10 year old is a super sensitive little guy. He takes on the emotion of anything and everything around him. He can't watch sad movies, read scary books or really deal with a whole lot that involves sadness. He is an empath to the nth degree. We love that about him. We love that he is the sweetest little boy. We love that our friends will say, "If you have a problem with Zack, then you're the one with the problem." He is just a great kid who doesn't have any intention of ever hurting anyone's feelings.
We are just energy beings
He came to me one night when it was bedtime with tears in his eyes. His words were, "Mom, I just feel so bad" however he couldn't tell me why. I knew that he was just taking on everyone's energy on from the day. I used to be that way when I was a kid. I never really knew how to not take on other people's emotions until I went through the spiritual program with my teacher where I learned how to set boundaries for myself and realize what's mine and what's not.
I teach people all the time how to do that now. I say, "Imagine your energy being pink and everyone else's blue. Your energy is about an arm's length around your body. You leave the house with only pink energy and come home with that energy pink. You don't leave any pink spots behind and you don't walk in with any blue." It's a visual to keep in mind to stay intact. Being empathetic is very different than taking on someone else's energy. You're not doing anyone any favors by taking on their issues. As a matter of fact, you may be depriving them of an opportunity to help themselves.
Breathing meditation
Back to my son and his anxiety. I decided that I would experiment with my son by doing some breathing exercises. We sat on the bed together and started to do deep breaths together. I said to him, "Breathe in peace, breathe out sadness, breathe in happiness, breathe out anxiety, breathe in calm, breathe out what doesn't serve your body ... " We did this for about 2-3 minutes. I asked him if he felt better and he said he did.
A few days later, he said to me that he's been doing the breathe exercises every single day and he's been feeling better. I was so happy to hear it and somewhat surprised that he'd been practicing on his own. I have been saying recently that my goal for the next year is to learn how to teach kids to meditate.
An hour a week will change the world
I had heard the Dali Lama say that if every child over the age of five meditated for one hour a week, all violence would be eliminated in a generation. Now that's powerful! I help my kids meditate or do little guided meditations like this all the time. I can't say every story is as successful as this one or that they stick with it daily but I keep at it.
I would love to hear about your mediation techniques!
We are just energy beings
He came to me one night when it was bedtime with tears in his eyes. His words were, "Mom, I just feel so bad" however he couldn't tell me why. I knew that he was just taking on everyone's energy on from the day. I used to be that way when I was a kid. I never really knew how to not take on other people's emotions until I went through the spiritual program with my teacher where I learned how to set boundaries for myself and realize what's mine and what's not.
I teach people all the time how to do that now. I say, "Imagine your energy being pink and everyone else's blue. Your energy is about an arm's length around your body. You leave the house with only pink energy and come home with that energy pink. You don't leave any pink spots behind and you don't walk in with any blue." It's a visual to keep in mind to stay intact. Being empathetic is very different than taking on someone else's energy. You're not doing anyone any favors by taking on their issues. As a matter of fact, you may be depriving them of an opportunity to help themselves.
Breathing meditation
Back to my son and his anxiety. I decided that I would experiment with my son by doing some breathing exercises. We sat on the bed together and started to do deep breaths together. I said to him, "Breathe in peace, breathe out sadness, breathe in happiness, breathe out anxiety, breathe in calm, breathe out what doesn't serve your body ... " We did this for about 2-3 minutes. I asked him if he felt better and he said he did.
A few days later, he said to me that he's been doing the breathe exercises every single day and he's been feeling better. I was so happy to hear it and somewhat surprised that he'd been practicing on his own. I have been saying recently that my goal for the next year is to learn how to teach kids to meditate.
An hour a week will change the world
I had heard the Dali Lama say that if every child over the age of five meditated for one hour a week, all violence would be eliminated in a generation. Now that's powerful! I help my kids meditate or do little guided meditations like this all the time. I can't say every story is as successful as this one or that they stick with it daily but I keep at it.
I would love to hear about your mediation techniques!
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