Children in meditation school: a successful experiment!

Proposing meditation to children, on the spot, could astonish even the most genuine admirer of this practice and not - apparently - wrongly.

How to succeed in curbing the vitality of children in a still, quiet and calm activity?

Why favor something that does not aim to release the tensions accumulated at school, but, on the contrary, proposes again a stiffening in silence?

How can children, who do not have the intellectual tools of the adult, benefit from such a complex practice as meditation?

These questions - and many others - are legitimate and dictated by naive but understandable common sense. And yet, the whole subject could be turned upside down and repeated on the contrary: "Why deprive children of such a beneficial, healthy and precious practice as meditation?"

Even the children, in fact, in their own small way, suffer many sources of stress, anxiety and tension, and even for them it can be very significant to find a space of peace in which to take refuge .

School is the place where they spend most of the day and, as a temple of education and growth (at least in theory), it would be really ideal to include in this context a moment dedicated to meditation .

An unusual but very effective proposal: meditation at school

If the discussion made at the beginning seems futuristic, in reality experiments and projects are going on all over the world that go in that direction.

Let's start with a virtuous Italian example whose protagonist is a courageous high school teacher who, thanks to her tenacity, managed to introduce meditation at the institute where she works, De Amicis, in Tremestieri Etneo in the province of Catania. This pioneer of meditation bears the name of Giovanna Finocchiaro who thus comments on her experience:

" Meditation acts on behavior. The boys are more relaxed and more concentrated in the study, they learn more easily. Their stress is different from that of adults which is much more stratified, therefore they are able to obtain great benefits from the meditation reaching even 10 minutes of transcendence. Because they are cleaner than adults whose body is intoxicated by stress . Meditation was also done by children with character discomforts and even in this case all the teachers found benefits. It is clear that if one is brat it remains bratty. But they get better "(to read the full interview with the professor click here).

In the USA, which on this aspect are much more advanced than in Europe, studies that confirm the wisdom of this type of initiative are multiplying. Research from the University of California has shown that practicing meditation techniques for 30 minutes by third grade children has improved test results that required memory, concentration and attention .

At the San Francisco United School District a trial was conducted on over 3, 000 children practicing transcendental meditation: school results improved and bullying, expulsions and school dropouts decreased .

Again, this technique can help even in difficult situations, for example for all those children who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder "(ADHD) . Dr. Sarina Grosswald conducted a study aimed at a non-pharmacological approach to the problem but uses transcendental meditation.

He explains: " There were very interesting results in using the Transcendental Meditation technique in children suffering from ADHD and related disorders, such as Asberger syndrome and mood disorders. Unlike medicines, Transcendental Meditation does not treat symptoms but affects the cause of the disease. This means that it does not create a temporary effect, but it can improve the situation permanently "(to read the entire interview click here).

Problems with studying? Try meditation!

Meditation techniques dedicated to children

If the premises are encouraging, it becomes crucial to understand how to propose meditation to children and which type. There is not a widely tested baggage of experiences to rely on in this field, especially in Italy, but one can base oneself on what exists and can enrich it with what comes from one's field work.

Very often transcendental meditation is used, one of the best known thanks to a famous patron like David Lynch today. And yet, especially with the youngest, very creative and innovative approaches have been adopted, less "academic", so to speak.

In France, the book “ Quiet and attentive as a frog ” by the Dutch Eline Snel has achieved great success, developing a method of meditation for children aged 7 and up. Attention, breath, but also play, expression of one's feelings and reflection on the emotions born of some thoughts induced by the theme chosen for meditation.

Another methodology may include the use of drawing, coloring of mandalas, listening to music, or various meditation techniques in movement or visualization . There are also books that collect stories aimed at relaxation and induction of a meditative state as well as texts with real meditations that the teacher or parent can read to the child (for example, "I the inner journey. Meditations in search of self ”by Ruediger Dahlke ).

Meditation at school: a difficult journey, but to be accomplished

We therefore see what an important tool meditation can be, even for the youngest. The Italian school is not famous for its openness to the new, for the avant-garde of educational experiments or for the thriving state of health of the preparation it offers and the reasons for these deficits are to be found in decades of demeaning policies in this regard .

The road is not easy, but it is viable : every journey begins with a small step, said Lao Tzu. Prof. Giovanna Finocchiaro did it, let's go back.