This week: TWO guided meditations kids!
They may induce temporary happiness and / or annoyance. One – Colourland (click here) - is designed to brighten children up. A second - Calmland (click above) – is designed to settle children down.
I’m happy to finally share these! Making them was pure joy. Back when I created them – almost ten years ago now – I would ride my exuberance into cosmic hypomanic heights. So you should know these tracks are not exactly meditative.
They were created as part of a collaboration with my friend Kirsten Chase, for her “Kidevolve” project. You can listen to many more “creative mind journeys” here, on themes ranging from self-control to anxiety, sleep, empathy, resilience and more. I made about a dozen, each a mix of sound effects, improvised vocals, and continual appeals to the imagination.
Making meditations for kids is very different from making meditations for adults. For one, kids don’t exactly sit still, nor should they. You have to meet them where they’re at: careening through life. They have powerful imaginations that shape their experience and can support all kinds of regulating effects. Kids don’t know their own limits. They have empathy for everything, and explore everything, and play with reality like giggly liberated sadhus.
If you happen to have kids aged 4 to 10 in your life, give these a try. Although I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on these meditations over the years, if I were to make these again now, I’d probably do some things a bit differently. Also I have kids now, so there’s that. I’d love to hear your reports in the comments, including how you think about children and meditation, and what practices you’ve tried that have been supportive. And of course it goes without saying: adults are also welcome to listen, to wind back their maturity and join me in deranged good times.
Love, Jeff
A few quick notes—
New to Home Base? We have over 70 free guided meditations in our audio library, over 60 extended meditations, over 365 meditations on YouTube, and a growing number of community practice videos. New writing, new audio meditations, and new DNP live community practice sessions happen every week.
Did you find me on Calm or Happier? While the meditations I recorded for the apps live on in perpetuity, I no longer record new meditations for them. My latest work happens here; becoming a paid subscriber is the best way to support that work. I give paid scholarships to anyone who asks (email info@jeffwarren.org). If you found this meditation and post helpful, but becoming a paid subscriber isn’t an option, you can also …
Many thanks!
