Stop, Breathe, Be - For Older Children & Teens

In this ten minute guided practice, older children and teens notice how their minds and bodies feel when they stop, breathe and be.

Transcript

Hi everybody.

Today we're going to talk about one of our strategies.

It's the strategy of stopping.

And my guess is you've heard people tell you to stop,

Breathe,

And think.

That's a very good strategy,

But I'm going to suggest a different one right now.

I'm going to suggest that you stop,

Breathe,

And then just be.

And when you get around to it after that,

You can start thinking again.

Let's do that practice and see what that feels like.

Okay,

So let's start like we always do.

Take a quick scan of your mind and body and check in to see how your mind is doing.

Is it busy?

Is it quiet?

Are you focused and calm?

Or are you a little bit nervous or upset?

Anything at all.

Just notice it and just file it away for later.

And then do the same thing with your body.

Check in with your body.

Is your body relaxed?

Is it tense?

Is it comfortable?

Is it uncomfortable?

Is it easy or hard to sit still?

If it's hard to sit still,

You know the drill.

What you can do is you can sway from side to side like the pendulum.

Or you can squeeze on a pillow.

Or you can lie down.

Alright,

So now that we have figured out how we're doing right now and how are we going to sit or lie down for this practice,

Let's either lie flat on the ground with our feet straight out and our arms beside us.

Or sit in a chair with your back straight,

Your feet flat on the ground,

And your muscles relaxed.

And let's start with three deep breaths.

One.

Two.

And three.

So move your attention to the sensation of breathing.

One of those anchors we talked about before.

Either the feeling of breath just under your nose,

Or the feeling of breath over your heart,

Or the feeling of breath in your tummy.

Breathing in and out.

And now we're just going to rest.

We're going to rest in the present moment.

Keeping our mind and our attention gently on that anchor.

Okay.

If your mind wanders,

That's okay.

That's what minds are designed to do.

Just notice that your mind has wandered.

But don't think about what your mind has wandered about.

Instead of thinking,

Go back to being here in the present moment,

Resting your attention on your anchor.

Okay.

Again,

If your mind has wandered,

That's okay.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

That's what our minds are designed to do.

They're very good at that.

But instead of thinking about what our mind has wandered to,

Just notice that it's wandered and bring your attention back gently.

Gently resting on your anchor.

We're just being.

We're not thinking.

We're just resting in the present moment,

Just as things are.

Okay.

Okay.

Last time,

If your mind has wandered,

That's totally cool.

That's what minds are supposed to do.

Helps us a lot.

But let's not think about what our mind has wandered about.

Just notice that your mind has wandered and shift it back to your anchor and just rest in the present moment.

Just being here right now.

Okay.

Okay.

We're about ready to close this practice.

So let's close it again with three more purposeful breaths.

One,

Two,

Three.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

And now is a good time to think about what went on during your practice.

Notice whether your body or your mind feel a little differently than they did before.

Think about times that this might be helpful to you in everyday life.

And think about whether some of the information that came to you during meditation could be helpful to you in just managing the ups and downs of real life.

Thank you.

Reviews

So focused and helpful

Loved the simpleness of this practice. Gentle reminders to refocus on breath when your mind has wandered were helpful. Perfect balance of guidance and letting go.

Love it all but I stayed awake for all of the meditation. Sorry Rachel.

My mom told me to download this app so I went to the kids section and found this. It was great but the rest took more then half of the meditation. I felt like the break could have been shorter. But overall it was a great experience.

Great ! Noticing, not judging was well explained !

My seven year old learned more about returning to her "still, quiet place" (as she calls it) and not to get hung up on her mind wandering. Usually children's meditations have speaking the entire time. We both enjoyed the silent portions this one offered. Very "grown up".

Hi.This is the person who listened to this meditation and I want to thank you for this has really helped me to calm down and think about the good things in my life. I will diffidently be using This fab medation with my Friends and family again. Thanks again Susan.

My 8 year old said he like it "because she let us have alot of silence so we could focus on our breathing."

Lovely.. my 9 year old and I just started doing short meditations together and this was great, because it acknowledged our restless minds and didn't make us feel bad when it inevitably wandered. Would recommend this for all novices, not just teens :)

Good for adults too!

I am nine years old... And it works 🙏

Great for tweens!!!

It was great at relaxing my stress

Imagine if these practices could be integrated into the school day. Great contribution to help kids and teens calm the chatter.

Simple, quiet, and straightforward

I just did this with my 16 year old son and we both enjoyed it. He said he now feels refreshed. Me too! I'd like to learn more about the things you've mentioned in your intro, Susan. I'll search for more info.

Great for my students, thanks!

Great for my son who is aspergus. Thanks

Helpful, good pace.Good for an introduction to Mindfulness. Thank you