Meditation - What it is
Meditation, put simply, is tapping into the quiet space within one's mind. It is letting go of the past and not thinking about the future, it is simply 'being' in the moment.
It is holding a poised and clear concentration whilst the body remaind completely relaxed. It is to escape all distractions and focus internally rather than externally. Freeing ourselves from the worries and activities which are part of our day to day lives. Meditation restores clarity and energy levels, it brings a great and comforting feeling of peace and oneness with the world. It enables reflection and contemplation. Meditation enriches one's experiences of life. It will bring greater awareness and understanding of yourself and others. It encourages empathic thoughts. Meditation is an invaluable tool which can grow and develop through a childs life though to adulthood and beyond. Finding out that there exists a centre of peace within us all is a truly remarkable and enlightening experience. Children who incorporate meditation ito their lives gain an inner strength and cope better with the inevitable stresses they face in their day to day lives, at home and at school. Creativity and imagination are developed through practising meditation as well as concentration and memory.
Latest happenings
Since January I have been working with Staff and pupils at St Bartholomew's Primary school in Haslemere. I've had the great pleasure of working with pupils from Reception up to year 6, teaching weekly meditation lessons. The feedback from children, staff and parents has been fantastic!
The children have memorised a range of energising and relaxing breathing exercises which can be used to increase calm, manage feelings of stress or anxiety, or bring renewed focus and clarity.
They have tried different types of meditation, all geared towards developing the art of sitting in quiet concentration, and freeing yourself from outside distractions. The younger children have really benefited from practising the simple art of sitting perfectly still and holding concentration. They are really developing their listening and observation skills and are thoroughly enjoying the guided meditations and visualisations. Thankyou to Paul Beach, a great Head teacher - for inviting Rainbow into your fantastic school!
In January I ran two workshops for Cherry Lane Primary School in West Drayton - a large Primary school; they were taking part in a Well-being week.
All children from Nursery to Year 6 participated in a session and really enjoyed learning the relaxation exercises and in particular the Rainbow relaxation meditation at the end!
The children also really enjoyed listening to the 'singing bowl' which they thought was amazing!
Thankyou to Sian for inviting us in to share in a fantastic week!
In October I ran a day of workshops at Davignor Infant School in Hove - the staff and children were great and really loved the Rainbow visualisation at the end of the session in particular. Apparently, the children are still using the techniques they learned on the day which is just great - keep it up! Thankyou to Vicky for organising for Rainbow to come along as part of your Emotional Health and Well-being week!
In July I ran a day of workshops in a wonderful school in
From the Reception classes, who really enjoyed their animal themed yoga and balloon breathing! right up to Year 6 who learned some great stress busting and calming yoga and breathing exercises as well as a wonderful beach visulisation! A big thankyou to all of the pupils and staff at
The past year has been particularly busy for me as since Rainbow's launch, not only have I been teaching and running workshops, we also welcomed our son, and fourth child, Leo into the world in April!
I am really excited about the coming year and look forward to bringing Rainbow into lots more schools.