Calm Kids Help Children Relax with Mindful Activities by Lorraine E. Murray

176 pp.  
6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
Floris Books
Paperback
Published:  March 2012

• “At school, we believe education should touch the whole child. This includes the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and cognitive aspects of the child's life. We teach children quietness as a skill to reflect and recharge their inner lives. Lorraine Murray helped us on this journey.” —Sheila Laing, Head Teacher, Campie Primary School, Musselburgh, Scotland

Stress and behavioral disorders are common in children. Young people are increasingly bombarded by marketing campaigns, school and peer pressure, and the stress of adults around them. Mindfulness and meditation can help children recognize and cope with such pressures, gently releasing bad feelings and giving them simple tools to deal with tensions and stresses. In this practical and inspiring book, Lorraine Murray shows parents, teachers, and youth workers how to lead fun and peaceful meditation sessions with children.

Calm Kids explains a variety of approaches, from meditations around daily activities for busy families, to ideas for group “quietness” sessions in school. She provides fun, tactile rhymes for toddlers to help calm them before bedtime, and suggests ways to help teenagers reduce anxiety. She goes on to explain how these methods can help children with ADHD and those on the autistic spectrum, offering a range of case studies.

This book is suitable for both beginners and those with experience in relaxation and meditation techniques. It offers the advice needed to lead sessions with children, while encouraging readers to adapt and develop their own ways of helping children to feel calmer, happier, and more peaceful.

• “[Lorraine Murray's] meditation techniques are simple, sound, and cleverly age appropriate; whether you try them on your Y10 tutor group, or yourself, you could see some rather astonishing results.” —Teach Secondary


• “In an age when children are constantly stimulated and have very little opportunity to practice silence, this book is a welcome contribution.” —David Lorimer, Scientific and Medical Network Review


• “In this practical and inspiring book, Lorraine Murray shows how to lead fun and peaceful meditation sessions with children. She provides fun, tactile rhymes for toddlers to help them calm down before bedtime, and suggests ways to help teenagers reduce anxiety.... This book is suitable for complete beginners, or those with some experience of relaxation and meditation techniques.” —Green Parent


• “This book is well balanced, and it gives a clear background rationale for the use of meditation with children.... The book facilitates the reader's understanding of the topic area in an easily accessible way, as well as giving them the skills to be able to use meditation and develop meditations for their children...It would be good for parents to read, as well as benefiting people working with children. The book is easy to read and mostly jargon-free, making it readily accessible.” —www.youthinmind.info