Meditation & The "Boogie Man"

By Greawolff

Meditation is a tool to help the conscious and sub-conscious minds work
together. This can be used to overcome fears and obstacles that come
out of the sub-conscious. Children can learn mediation very easily as
it calls upon imagination which they have in abundance. Practice with
meditation can teach a child self-confidence and give them the
certainty that any problem can be overcome if they put their minds to
it.

If you have an imaginative child, he or she has probably kept you up
late at night with fears of "monsters under the bed" or "boogey men in
my dreams." We have found that variations on the following technique
work well with our precocious boy:

First, have the child relax. Have him lie still, close his eyes and
listen to your voice. Have him take three slow, deep breaths. Make him
conscious of every part of his body, one part at a time. Start with
having him wiggle his toes, then imagine that his toes are getting heavy
and wanting to sink into the mattress. Work your way up the body joints
-- ankles, knees, hips, stomach, back, fingers, wrists, elbows,
shoulders, neck head -- using the same technique. This may be enough to
lull the child to sleep, but don't count on it.

Second, have the child visualize numbers. A countdown from five is
usually good enough. Tell him to see it floating in space; encourage
him to give it color and texture, even sound and taste -- though most
kids over four will find that very silly. Take a minute or so on each
number and make sure the visualization is solid.

Third, have the child visualize a place. A meadow or park is a good,
calm place. Start when the child has a solid vision of the number
three. Tell him that now the number is floating over a field of grass;
have him picture how the grass looks, feels and smells. With the number
two, add in trees. Have him see what kind of leaves they have, see them
shake in the wind. With the number one, have him see the sky; how blue
it is, how warm the sunlight feels, how white the clouds.

Fourth, have the child visualize himself in the place. Now that he has
completed the countdown his vision of the place should be complete.
Have him visualize himself there. If he has any imaginary friends or
favorite stuffed animals, have him visualize them there. Especially if
he has any guardian spirits or "friends" that make him feel safe, have
him visualize them there. Tell him that they are here to play with him
all night long and want him to stay there with them. Tell him that this
is *his* place and that only people that he invites can come here. Once
he has this visualization well in place, you should be able to wish him
good-night and leave him to his friends.

One thing to remember, once the meditation has begun, don't mention the
things that the child is afraid of. Assure him that the place he is
going is safe, but don't mention safe from what.

by Greawolff

I am a 33 year old happily married mother of two. We have a boy, Brent, who will be 11 years old on June 24th and our daughter, Brianna, who is 18 1/2 months old now. Her birthday is Oct. 11. My husband works for Kaiser Permanete in the Client Services Center as the legal aid to all of Southern Cal. Kaiser. I am an at home mom with a back injury, and trying to keep things running as best I can. We have a 3 year old German Shephard, Rhue, who owns the house and thinks he owns mom too. I am a medical assistant by trade and have been since 1989, but I haven't been active in the field for the past 3 years, because of various reasons. I do keep up with all the new information and things out there the best I can, so that I can stay on top of things. www.geocities.com/athens/forum/1928 graewolff@home.com