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Meditation in childhood: How can it help little ones?
Experts advise starting meditation at age six, but assure that there is no problem if parents or guardians believe that the child is ready to do so before.
Son and father meditating in nature Getty images
Madrid Childhood is a stage of learning, not only about the world around us, but also about ourselves. Little ones, among other things, must learn to recognize and manage their emotions. As Vilma Montoliu, a naturopath and therapist, explains: coach specialized in conscious breathing and meditation in the book I am like the sea (Column, 2025), can meditation be a tool to help them in this process?
"It depends a bit on the children's age, because sometimes we ask them for behaviors they can't give us because their brains aren't yet ready to do them," Montoliu points out. She emphasizes that, by expressing their emotions, children aren't trying to annoy adults, but rather to communicate. "Some parents think they know their children just because they're their children, but they need to get used to asking them more questions. For example, if they notice they're angry, they can ask them if they have a cloud in their head and then tell them, perhaps with the help of stories and tales, why they feel that way." According to Montoliu, this will help them identify their emotions.
"It depends a bit on the children's age, because sometimes we ask them for behaviors they can't give us because their brains aren't yet ready to do them," Montoliu points out. She emphasizes that, by expressing their emotions, children aren't trying to annoy adults, but rather to communicate. "Some parents think they know their children just because they're their children, but they need to get used to asking them more questions. For example, if they notice they're angry, they can ask them if they have a cloud in their head and then tell them, perhaps with the help of stories and tales, why they feel that way." According to Montoliu, this will help them identify their emotions.
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As Montoliu explains, you first need to determine what situation caused the emotion you're feeling and what the general characteristics of that emotion are. You must try to entertain it or cover it up. You must understand that no matter what emotion you're feeling, you, as a responsible adult, still love them. Once this process is complete, she recommends meditating together. "I would like meditation not to be understood as an emergency measure, but rather as a habit that is established within your routine. What exercises can be performed?
In his book, Montoliu suggests meditation exercises for different emotions: joy, sadness, love, guilt, shame... "They're like visualizations of little stories: we find ourselves at the bottom of the sea, we meet a goblin who shows us the way, a fairy speaks to us, etc., which serve to contextualize what relaxes him." He then explains these stories with "magic ingredients." Is any younger child ready for it?
Does meditation help strengthen family ties?
"Above all, it helps improve family relationships," says Montoliu, who explains that it was through meditation that she developed a more trusting relationship with her mother. "Every child is unique, but I think we need to recover a little of this instinct as parents. Sometimes we think that meditation and children are two concepts that don't go together, but they're ideas we need to get rid of. In the end, these meditations are nothing more than stories in which the child is the world of the story, and this is very beautiful because it channels emotions."
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