Meditation with Children

Children today are living in a fast-paced world where one solitary voice can easily get lost amid the din. Regular meditation helps children to relax, generate energy and confidence, become aware of their innate goodness and engage more compassionately with their peers. Meditation with Children: A Resource for Teachers and Parents is a helpful guide to Christian meditation for children. The book encourages adults to experience meditation for themselves and equips them with the tools to introduce the practice to children, including simple lesson plans that can be implemented at home, in the classroom or on a whole-school basis. Noel Keating explores what the wisdom traditions and religions of the world say about meditation and identifies the practical rewards and spiritual fruits that arise from regular meditation. Featuring excerpts from interviews with Irish primary school children who have practised meditation regularly in the classroom, the book also gives voice to their first-hand experiences of its benefits, both psychological and spiritual. "This informative and engaging book sets out a strong case for the importance of meditation in the spiritual development of school-age children. Based on the personal voices of children engaged in school meditation, Dr Keating demonstrates the difference between the practical benefits of meditation and its deeper fruits of spiritual knowledge, greater clarity of perception, personal transformation, and authentic compassionate living. The study provides striking evidence of the depth of spiritual wisdom attained by school children through meditative practice." Bernard McGinn, Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus, Divinity School, University of Chicago