Stillpoints for Children

Guided Relaxation, Meditation and Visualisation

Elaine Moreton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781138047297
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351693226
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Research shows that the stress points in children's daily lives are on the increase and can have a negative impact on their ability to learn, relate to others and to themselves. This practical resource: explains and demystifies relaxation, meditation and visualisation; provides an educational rationale backed up by case study material that shows the benefits of helping children to develop 'stillpoints' in order to neutralise stress, develop a stronger sense of 'self' and create 'optimum' learning states; includes a very practical and unique resource for use in the classroom or home. Based on sound educational, yogic and psychological philosophies, each of the 7 tracks has a specific theme and is only 5 minutes long: Track 1: Relaxation - 5/6 minutes (sitting in a chair); Track 2: Heart Meditation - 5/6 minutes (sitting in a chair); Track 3: Finding Peacefulness - 5/6 minutes (sitting in a chair); Track 4: Pack Up Your Troubles - 5/6 minutes (sitting in a chair); Track 5: Finding Silence - 5/6 minutes (sitting in a chair); Track 6: The Learning Tree - 5/6 minutes (sitting cross-legged); Track 7: The Learning Tree 2 - 5/6 minutes (lying down). The handbook provides the rationale for the 'why' and the downloadable resources provide the guidance and practical application on the 'how'.

Chapter 1
An educational context

Our present-day knowledge of the child’s mind is comparable to a fifteenth century map of the world – a mixture of truth and error … vast areas remain to be explored.

(Arnold L Gessell)

Gateway to learning

So what is the ‘Gateway’ to learning? To best understand what this means we need to start by looking at how the brain functions in terms of how we learn. It is now well established that learning takes place in three different parts of the brain:

• the reptilian brain is about survival; it controls heartbeat and regulates the release of adrenalin
• the limbic part of the brain is where emotions, self-identity, values, long-term memory and attention are developed
• the neocortex is divided into two hemispheres and is where higher order thinking skills take place (often regarded as the academic brain).

If stressed, the reptilian brain releases extra adrenalin, the liver then releases glucose and our muscles get ready for ‘fight, flight … or freeze‘. Blood vessels become narrow which means less oxygen gets to the brain and breathing becomes shallow and quick. All this can result in the reptilian brain actually shutting down, which in turn stops the higher order thinking taking place. This can have a major effect on learning – we are all familiar with the saying, ‘in one ear out the other’, which if we are acutely stressed is likely to be true!

I regard the reptilian brain as the vital ’Gateway’ to learning and I believe that we, as teachers and parents, must explore every avenue and tool at our disposal to ensure our children’s ‘Gateway’ remains open, thus allowing optimum learning to take place. Research shows that by simply entering into this kind of meta-cognitive discussion with children we heighten their awareness of the mind and how it works. This in turn increases their belief in themselves as ’learners’.

Emotional stress in children

Sadly, sometimes a child’s tangled emotional state, however high their IQ may be, prevents him or her from entering into an ‘optimum learning state’ because the ‘Gateway’ to learning has closed. We see this in children at school and at home where they may fight (verbally or physically) if cornered or angry; may take flight by running away when unhappy, hurt, angry, frustrated or confused; and sometimes they ‘freeze’, rendering them unable to move or talk if frightened, deeply unhappy or feeling misjudged. When children are in this stressed state their attention span is also affected and they are often unable to concentrate or sit still.

A group of teachers and parents I worked with suggested the following list of physical, mental and emotional stressors in our children:

• ☹ Anger - fights in the playground
• ☹ Upset - falling out with friends
• ☹ Frustration - not getting own way, injustice: 'It's not fair!'
• ☹ Exertion-too much running around
• ☹ Fear/worry - 'I can't' (spelling test?)
• ☹ Lack of confidence - 'I don't know'
• ☹ Low self-esteem - I'm not good enough'
• ☹ Sadness/loss-friends/family, bereavement

Mental illness and related issues among our young people are on the increase.

So what strategies do children have to help them cope with stress, to self-regulate their (often knee-jerk) responses? Are there areas of development that we ignore that could help children to cope better with stress both in childhood and into adult life? Do we dismiss certain concepts/philosophies, such as meditation and deep relaxation, out of hand through ignorance, scepticism or simply arrogance? Surely we owe it to our children to leave no ‘stone unturned’, to help them achieve not just a higher level of academic achievement but also the ‘highest level of contentment’? I believe that this book and the accompanying CD offer a simple tool that can help to accomplish this over time by establishing different patterns of behaviour and nurturing healthy habits for life.

Intelligences and their quotients

Most people in education are familiar with Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, but he does not include spiritual intelligence in his list of intelligences because it is not included in scientific terminology and as yet has no clinical definitions. However, there is growing recognition that SQ does exist, that it is equally as important as IQ and EQ and that it may be measurable. Below are some simple definitions of IQ, EQ and SQ.

IQ (intelligence quotient), based on ‘serial neural wiring’:

• levels of thinking
• stored knowledge
• problem solving

EQ (emotional quotient), based on ‘associative neural wiring’:

• self-awareness - emotions/feelings
• self-management - response
• social awareness - empathy
• social management - helping others/management of interactions/reflections
• self-motivation

SQ (spiritual quotient), based on the brain’s third neural system, the ‘synchronous neural oscillations’:

• link between reason and emotion, mind and body
• intuition, a sixth sense of knowingness
• deep sense of unique self and identity
• compassion, perception
• sense of awe and wonder

Spiritual intelligence is not synonymous with religion and it is perhaps an unfortunate misconception as spirituality is often misunderstood. Many religious people are very spiritual and some are not. Likewise some of the most spiritual people I have known throughout my life were not religious at all.

It seems to me that we can be obsessed in the UK with IQ, the academic side of learning, at too early an age, with the formal teaching of reading and writing often being started before children are socialised and have fully developed their speaking and listening skills or the ability to concentrate or sit still. Research shows that in some other countries, for example, Denmark, where children are allowed to develop emotional and social skills through creative play for longer and do not start formal ‘schooling’ until much later, they seem to do just as well in subjects such as learning to read and in some cases much better than in the UK!

Although a comparatively new field of study, ‘Spiritual Intelligence’ is gaining credibility and gradually entering mainstream education. ‘Spiritual Intelligence’ is being cited (Covey, 2004) as a key component of good leadership and it may be that it is the most fundamental of all the intelligences in that leaders wield a great deal of power and influence, and provide guidance for others.

My combined experience as a qualified primary school teacher and as a qualified yoga/meditation teacher has led me to the conclusion that children simply do not get enough guidance in terms of EQ and even less so for SQ, ‘the new kid on the quotient block’, as this is the one we feel even less comfortable with. Teachers and parents, even if they are aware of a need to develop SQ, are often at a loss as to how to help children develop this ‘part’ of their human being.

For many years I have had an overriding conviction that children need to be taught from a very early age how to see, how to listen and how to ‘be still’ in a way that helps them to develop a better understanding of themselves and the world they live in. They need to develop a higher level of emotional intelligence, particularly empathy, awareness of others’ needs and the capacity to love and be loved. With guidance they can ‘enrich the poverty of spiritual awareness’ that I feel exists today by learning to be still, trusting their instincts and opening up to the awe and wonder that surrounds them and that can help to develop a sense of contentment and happiness.

Yes, it is true that those children lucky enough to have sight can ‘see’ and those with ears can ‘hear’ and they do have an ability to ‘be still’ but, and it is a big BUT, in today’s world it seems that many children (thankfully not all) are operating at a very basic level of emotional and spiritual intelligence; they ‘look’ but don’t ‘see’, ‘hear’ but don’t ‘listen’ and are virtually unable to ‘be still’ unless being entertained or the centre of attention.

Many children today are over-stimulated by the technological developments of the 21st century, for example, computers, mobile phones, IPads, play-stations, music videos, television, film, advertising, coming at them from every direction at all times of the day! These new stimuli seem to have replaced more meditative pastimes such as staring/day dreaming into the flames of an open fire, losing oneself in a book, enjoying long walks –experiencing the awe and wonder of nature, for example, a beautiful tree or view.

That is not to say that all modern-day activities are ‘bad’ but rather it is a question of balance. Many children have become too ‘extroverted’ and are unable to just ‘be’, demanding constant attention and instant gratification. They need to learn how to ’look inwards’, ‘go within’ and to just ‘be’.

These children are our future – they will shape tomorrow’s world according to the way they relate to themselves, the world and those in it. I believe that providing practical strategies and tools to help children to realise the stillness within is a stepping stone along the path to deeper empathy, reflection, contentment and a sense of self. And that we ignore this important area of human development in children at our peril!

National and international picture

There is growing concern globally about our children’s emotional health and wellbeing with relaxation, meditation and visualisation techniques increasing in credibility as a possible ‘road to recovery’. In Thailand meditation forms a natural part of the curriculum.

In 2002 BBC News Online reported that:

• ☺ A UK primary school in Portsdown claimed that problems stemmed from a lack of ‘emotional intelligence’ and children were given meditation sessions to help improve behaviour.
  
  
• ☺ A ‘quiet place’ has been created in a UK primary school in Toxteth, Liverpool for pupils to unwind and learn relaxation techniques.
  
  
• ☺ A UK primary school in Nottingham employed a yoga teacher to introduce breathing and relaxation techniques to 10- and 11-year-olds to create a relaxed state and improve concentration before exams.

In 2006 I was fortunate to be invited to meet Kevin Hogston, a wonderful teacher in a primary school in the London Borough of Kingston where I visited the beautiful ‘blue room’ he had created for pupils with its clouds mural on the ceiling, cushioned seating, floor cushions, and atmospheric lighting and music. Here, children spent an hour per week learning and practising meditation, relaxation, visualisation and peer-massage techniques.

More recently in 2012 I had the pleasure of visiting him again, this time in a primary school...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• About the author
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: An educational context
• Chapter 2: Relaxation, meditation and visualisation demystified
• Chapter 3: Medical and scientific research
• Chapter 4: Action research in the classroom
• Chapter 5: Understanding and getting the most from the ‘Stillpoints’ for Children CD
• Recommended reading and references