Follow the Bird: A New Form of Meditation for Children (of Any Age)

Yin Yang Bird

Perhaps the most approachable method of mindfulness meditation is simply following the breath: paying attention to each in- and out-breath. Although simple, this is not always easy, even for adults – and it can be nearly impossible for smaller children.

Enter “Ornithomindfulness for Kids,” developed by grade school teacher Bob White:

…it teaches children mindfulness by taking them out in a field and telling them to “follow the bird.” The children are asked to notice a bird, slowly approach it on tiptoes, continue towards it until it flies away, and then follow it until the bird disappears and just becomes an imprint in the sky.

“Kids just love it,” says White, “since it’s something they already like to do anyway, so now we can call it ‘meditation.’ I love that. It teaches them that meditation is just really natural.” He does go on to say that things can get a little wild out behind the school. “We’re located next to a field with a few trees. When a class of twenty-five starts chasing birds, looking at the ground, looking in the air, they start tripping on stumps, bumping into trees, bumping into each other, screeching and screaming. But that teaches them a lesson too. I call it ‘Pandemonium Practice.’ Life can get pretty crazy when everybody is running around chasing after things.”

Read the full article at http://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-practice/new-form-of-meditation-for-children-follow-the-bird

 

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