Hello from British Columbia, where we’re halfway through a fun family vacation. Allow me to reword that: where we’re halfway through a raucous family vacation.
Yesterday, after hours of ferry and car travel, our 5 and 3 year old boys rampaged through a Victoria supermarket, tearing off fruit signs, screeching out lyrics to their improvised “poo-poo bum-bum” song (in continuous development), and jamming fistfuls of unpaid-for golden raspberries (a local delicacy) into their glee-infused faces.
I would like to say that I exhibited perfect equanimity and patience, but actually I just pleaded pitifully and hollered and chased them up and down the aisles, adding to the general chaos.
This week: TWO guided meditations for kids!
They may induce temporary happiness and / or annoyance. One – Colourland (click above) - is designed to brighten children up. A second - Calmland (click here) – is designed to settle children down.
Very 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” for children 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 again these 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
Quick note—
Our next live gathering, The Lounge, will happen at a new time - and on a US holiday! It will be this Friday, July 4 at 8am ET, hosted by Lilli Weisz. We’ll listen to the week’s Home Base meditation together*, and then hang out for a bit, sharing reflections, making connections, being human. It’s like a book club, but for meditation. No prep, no pressure—just come as you are. Click on the date below to register (open to paying subscribers):
*this week we will likely listen to something from the archive!
Home Base Greatest Hits
New to Home Base? We have over 50 guided meditations in our library. Check out the most popular ones here.
THIS WEEK ON THE MIND BOD ADVENTURE POD
This week on the pod, we’re joined by writer and teacher
for a funny and surprising exploration of writing as a contemplative practice. Sarah guides us through three simple writing exercises, each designed to unlock creative flow. Grab a notebook and come join us!Being Human Takes Practice - Evening Event in New York
August 14, 2025, 6:30pm - 8:30pm ET
New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
Being human is hard! Meditation helps in about a million different ways, and one big specific way: space around said humanity. We explore all this in short guided practices, and through buoyant and sometimes tear-jerking social interaction and modern dance.
Ultimately this important and very professional evening is about relating to our mental health quirks and challenges in a more accepting and less stigmatized way. Also, it’s about joy. Or, if not joy, then bemused confusion. Plus I’ve noticed that talking about how life is kicking my ass makes people feel better about themselves. It’s good to talk about the ass-kickings of life in a joyful way! Also it’s good – very good – to talk about the sacred mystery of moment-to-moment existence and the weirdness of reality.
What does all this mean? I have no idea. But ideas come anyway! They’ll come to you too!
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