Meditation helps kids reduce impulsiveness

For years I have been teaching kids and their parents meditation techniques like mindfulness self hypnosis to reduce stress, impulsiveness, and to improve academic, sports and behavior performance. I love it when I have the opportunity to talk to young children and teach them a skill that they can benefit from throughout the rest of their life. You can imagine my excitement when I heard an ABC News report about the benefits of teaching children to meditate.

Meditation Helps Kids Chill Out,
Reduce Impulsivity

ABC Good Morning America, May 21, 2013: Andrew Kelly of Boston said that he and his 10 year-old-son practice “mindfulness” — a series of meditation techniques that slow the mind and fix attention on the present. The brain chills out, slows down and focuses on what is happening at the moment.

A University of California, Los Angeles study found second- and third-graders who practiced “mindful” meditation techniques for 30 minutes twice a week for eight weeks had improved behavior and scored higher on tests requiring memory, attention and focus than the nonmeditators.

Another study of more than 3,000 children in the San Francisco Unified School District found a dramatic improvement in math test scores and overall academic performance among students who practiced transcendental meditation, a form of mediation that promotes relaxation and “an awakening” of the mind. The study also found a decrease in student suspensions, expulsions and dropout rates.

And other recent studies have demonstrated the ability of “mindfulness” techniques, especially those used in meditation, yoga and tai chi, to reduce impulsiveness, control emotions and ease stress.

Children today are certainly more stressed out than their parents likely realize. One in five children said they worried a lot or a great deal about things going on in their lives, and more than 30 percent admitted to such stress-related symptoms as difficulty sleeping, according to the American Psychological Association’s annual Stress in America report. Yet, the same report found that only 8 percent of parents were aware that their children experienced any stress at all.

Read Meditation Helps Kids Chill Out, Reduce Impulsivity

A few weeks ago a college student stopped me on the ferry and thanked me for teaching his Lacrosse team self hypnosis. I didn’t recognize him at first and soon found out he had been on the Bainbridge Boys Lacrosse team 3 years ago. The hypnosis skills that he learned for sports performance sparked an interest in mindfulness meditation. It was thrilling to hear how he uses self hypnosis to relax, focus and for memory recall for his college exams. He no longer plays Lacrosse but he does use hypnosis several times a day everyday.

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the U.S. and mindful self hypnosis can help change this. We owe it to our children to teach them skills to prepare them for life. Call it what you will – meditation, mindfulness or self hypnosis – it works and it can change your life. Breathe, be mindful and chill out.

Check out Seattle hypnosis and Bainbridge Island hypnosis.
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