Sit With Stella: Animal Breaths

In this guided meditation, children are invited to join their friend Stella the dog as they practice breathing like Stella and some of her animal friends. By pretending to be different animals and focusing on different kinds of breathing, kids are gently introduced to the concept of mindfulness. This meditation is both fun and calming. Focus on breath can help kids regulate their emotions when they're anxious, excited, or feeling down. This meditation can be used alone, with a parent or friends, in small groups, or in large groups, at home or in the classroom.

This meditation is part of the Sit with Stella series, which invites children to imagine meditating with Stella the little brown dog. Stella acts as a guide and companion as children learn to meditate.

Transcript

Stella is a gentle dog with soft brown fur and warm brown eyes.

Sometimes she can feel a little anxious or like she needs some help relaxing.

When that happens,

She likes to focus on her breathing.

Did you know that focusing on your breathing can help you feel better too?

Let's practice our breathing while we're sitting down by pretending we're different animals.

You can cross your legs if you'd like and you can lean against something if that's comfortable.

Let your hands rest on your knees or in your lap.

Imagine Stella the dog sitting next to you.

Anytime you want,

You can imagine yourself petting Stella's soft fur.

Close your eyes.

Imagine how a dog pants.

It sounds like this.

Can you pant like Stella?

Take a deep breath in through your nose and then let it out like a dog pants.

Deep breath in and out.

Deep breath in and out.

One more deep breath in and let it out.

Okay,

Give your body a shake.

Shake,

Shake,

Shake.

Now let's breathe like some of Stella's animal friends.

Can you make a hissing sound like a snake?

Let's breathe like a snake.

Ready?

Take a deep breath in through your nose and hiss it out through your mouth.

Deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

One more deep breath in and out.

Good job.

Can you breathe like a whale?

Whales have to take a big breath in and then hold it while they swim deep underwater.

Then they release their breath through the blowholes on top of their heads.

We're going to imagine that we are a whale.

To breathe like a whale,

We're going to take a deep breath in and then tilt our heads back,

Put our hands around our mouths,

And breathe out hard like we're breathing out through a blowhole.

Ready?

Deep breath in through the nose.

Tilt your head back and blow out through your hands.

Drop your chin back down.

Deep breath in and out.

Tilt your head back and blow out.

One more deep breath in.

Tilt your head back and blow out.

That's it.

We're done.

You can keep practicing your animal breaths if you'd like or stand up and give your body a big shake.

Which was your favorite animal?

Reviews

I loved the doggy breaths. ❤️❤️❤️