Teaching children to meditate. Children have to be taught in a different way to adults, it should be threaded through their normal training. To ask them to just sit or stand still without proper instruction will make them uncomfortable and not want to do it. Mindfulness is taught through posture and breath to induce calm and included in all slower technical learning by also getting them to focus on one aspect of the movement. This way it becomes a normal aspect of their training.

Children can sit or lay down in good posture and breathe naturally but a bit more deeply and focus on doing their techniques and forms perfectly. To ensure their minds don’t wander I usually get them to raise their hand when they finish. This is also good technical training used by top athletes.

Mindfulness is learning to pay attention so children should never be ‘let off the hook’ in class, they should always pay attention to the coach and always be positioned in attention or ready stance, at ease, seated with arms and legs folded, or in a martial position, instruction should be given by varying techniques and positions so they have to pay attention to know what to do. Single repetition allows their mind to be lazy and get distracted.

Eventually when they have these skills adult seated and standing postures can be practised.

But PLEASE don’t put them off by making it seem like a punishment!