Meditation does not require a large chunk of sustained time, nor is it too difficult to get into. Psychologist Mike Brooks busts the misconception that its about emptying your mind. Instead, meditation is about focusing on one thing.

Brooks is talking about mindfulness meditation, which weve discussed before, which focuses on being fully in the moment. One of the biggest problems people have with meditation is the assumption that it requires emptying your mind entirely Ive seen several people who misconstrued it as that and gave up on meditation far too quickly. Brooks explains it better:

People think the goal of meditation is to empty the mind. Its not about clearing the mind; its about focusing on one thing. When the mind wanders, the meditation isnt a failure. Our brain is like a wayward puppy, out of control. Catching it and putting it back to the object of focus is the mediation.

Brooks also says that a total of 15 minutes of meditation in a day not necessarily continuous is enough to make you feel better. You can practise mindfulness meditation at any time, like when you are eating or walking the dogs or on your commute. One of my favourite tricks is to focus on your breath and count it. Weve talked about this and more techniques in our beginners guide to meditation.

The takeaway here is that mindfulness isnt difficult. Its not a failure if your mind wanders. Its natural for that to happen, especially if youre new to meditation. Do it in short bursts throughout the day, and youll get better at it.

Meditation Techniques For People Who Hate Meditation [Fast Company]

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'Meditation Isn't Clearing The Mind; It's Focusing On One Thing'

If you go to a holy place regularly with your children, they will soon start to feel the special peace that comes from being quiet and reverent. Show by your actions that you feel respectful in holy places and they will follow your lead.

If your children are old enough to stay still in a meditation pose, let them sit with you for a minute. Read them a short uplifting story at the beginning of your co-meditation and ask them to close their eyes and think about the story, while you are both quiet. That is enough technique for your children under 3 or 4.

When they reach kindergarten you can demonstrate how to breathe in and out evenly, so they can use this breathing during their quiet period. Mention that this even breathing can help them settle down when they feel stressed or upset. And no one can see them using this way to calm down so they need not feel embarrassed.

Here is an excerpt from a short story about sitting meditation you can read to your children. It is from my book linked at the end of this article: Meditation and Spiritual Stories for Kids.

Sitting Meditation by the Sea

To begin, it is a Saturday morning and the twins Anneke and Hans are climbing on their bikes, heading out along the 2 mile bike trail rolling through the dunes to the North Sea in Holland.

When they arrive, out of breath, the twins go sit for a few minutes at the foot of a dune facing the sea.

Since they are quiet and unmoving, a seagull comes quite near them at the water's edge. Gentle waves wash in and flow back and still their seagull friend, 'Sammy Seagull' as they call him, stands rooted on the wash of beach.

The twins take this time to sit up straight pretending to be seagulls, and as the waves wash in and out in a regular pattern, their breath quite naturally takes up a regular even pattern of its own.

After a minute, Anneke and Hans feel rested and run down to water's edge in pursuit of their new seagull friend, but only fast enough to catch a glimpse of his white belly as he swoops out over the edge of sea.

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Be an Example for Children in Meditation