Guided imagery for kids - child meditating

GUIDED IMAGERY: Use these scripts to help children cope with anxiety and stress

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Meditation
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CathLopes
Catherine Gillespie-Lopes is a writer, editor and art therapist currently living in the Toronto area.

70 Comments

  1. I used the shell meditation with my 7-10 year old yogis. They were very distraught by the shell and voiced concerns about it being found by someone else who would get their worries. They didn’t believe their worries just disappeared. I really never anticipated this being an issue, but we had to spend some time talking it through after. It made me look at guided meditations for kids very differently.

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    1. As for the magic shell, I’m not sure that a child telling an imaginary shell their problems rather than an adult is a great idea, or promoting the idea – to adults or children – that bad feelings are something to get rid of rather than to be listened to and acted upon.
      Having said that, kudos for sharing creative visualisations for free.

      Reply

  2. Hmm, I see that they recommend the shell meditation for younger children, but taking into account your experience, maybe it would be better for a slighter older group, like a group of 12-year-olds.

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  3. I personally love the “give your worries away” technique. As we’ve come to learn, Worry and fear are facilitated by our emotions, which come and go like the tide. The more we practice awareness, noticing and labeling these thoughts and feelings, the better we get at not becoming our thoughts. I plan to do this with my younger group of meditators and allow them to pick and keep their shell. Thanks for sharing 🙂

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  4. This worries me greatly. It is not a good idea to tell children that the shell will take their troubles away and it encourages secrecy rather than openness.
    Anyone who works with troubled children would know that this is not good for many reasons. I am sure that it is well intended but written without the necessary understanding of vulnerable children. I teach mindfulness to children but would not use this.

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  5. I started the shell meditation with my 5 year of straight after the white household one. I hadn?t read it beforehand and I had to quickly change it a lot!

    Children should be encouraged to share their worries or secrets with a trusted adult, not to whisper it to a shell and everything will magically be fixed and the bad feelings will go
    away.

    I?m sure the intention is good, but I?m my opinion this is not a meditation which should be encouraged in children.

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  6. Very disappointed in this guided imagery. Not appropriate for children to tell secrets to a shekk its facilitate stuffy feelings. Also doesnt end well

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  7. I understand the complaints above about story number 2 but I still hik it is worth using and here’s why:
    1. As parents we so want to be that “trusted adult”. If we are good parents we encourage our children to share their fears and worries with us. Sadly, however, there are times when they just can’t. If they’re intelligent and caring they will realise that you, the parent, might be upset or sad if we think they’re not happy. So they’ll not always want to tell you. Or they’ll worry that whatever yucky thought is upsetting them is something that will make adults angry. I’m sorry to at that this is unavoidable. No matter how accessible an adult you are, there is always the possibility the child won’t want to share with you. That’s perfectly normal and healthy.
    2. It’s also possible that the child has not been able to understand with clarity the problems or troubles it has. Voicing those troubles clearly and accurately to a magic shell won’t help, but will empower the child to understand and then maybe to voice them to an adult.

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    1. I actually do use the shell (in our case it is a stone) meditation with my daughter and we both do love it. The stone never became the “secret” object to turn to, it is rather something she can use for imaginary problems such as being afraid of a ghost at night or so.

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  8. I actually do use the shell (in our case it is a stone) meditation with my daughter and we both do love it. The stone never became the “secret” object to turn to, it is rather something she can use for imaginary problems such as being afraid of a ghost at night or so. She often tells me what she told the stone and I tell her things that I tell it to mine. It makes her happy to know she has her stone and I am glad there is something she can use whenever needed and maybe nobody around at that time.

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  9. Many thanks for sharing these beautiful free guided imagery meditations. They provide some fabulous ideas that are easy to adjust.

    Many children I work with don’t have an adult in their life whom they trust enough to share their problems with. They often tell me that adults ‘freak’ out about the strangest of things and are unpredictable, so I thought the shell idea would suit many children who have to cope alone…. although I’m guessing that the person who had taken the time to read them the meditation would hopefully be emotionally available enough to offer them support or guidance.

    Namaste ?

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  10. I’m going to let my kids have their own shell to decorate and talk to. Something they can take home to talk to or keep in our class

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  14. They often tell me that adults ‘freak’ out about the strangest of things and are unpredictable, so I thought the shell idea would suit many children who have to cope alone

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  15. This worries me greatly. It is not a good idea to tell children that the shell will take their troubles away and it encourages secrecy rather than openness. Really very helpful post actually..!!

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  18. You have really given very good information through this post to remove anxiety and stress, this information is very helpful for me, thank you wholeheartedly.

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  19. This is the perfect webpage for everyone who hopes to understand this topic. You know a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a topic that’s been written about for ages. Excellent stuff, just wonderful!

    Reply

  21. I actually do use the shell (in our case it is a stone) meditation with my daughter and we both do love it. The stone never became the “secret” object to turn to, it is rather something she can use for imaginary problems such as being afraid of a ghost at night or so. She often tells me what she told the stone and I tell her things that I tell it to mine. It makes her happy to know she has her stone and I am glad there is something she can use whenever needed and maybe nobody around at that time.

    Reply

  26. I personally love the “give your worries away” technique. As we’ve come to learn, Worry and fear are facilitated by our emotions, which come and go like the tide Anyone who works with troubled children would know that this is not good for many reasons. I am sure that it is well intended but written without the necessary understanding of vulnerable children. I teach mindfulness to children but would not use this.

    Reply

  33. भईया जी आप बहुत अच्छी जानकारी देते है। मुझे भी आपकी तरह एक ब्लॉगर बनना है। आप अपने ब्लॉग पर सभी जानकारी बहुत विस्तार से समझाते है। अगर आपको याद होगा तो मैंने पहले भी आपकी पोस्ट में कमेंट की है।

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  37. आप बहुत अच्छी जानकारी देते है। मुझे भी आपकी तरह एक ब्लॉगर बनना है। आप अपने ब्लॉग पर सभी जानकारी बहुत विस्तार से समझाते है।

    Reply

  64. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your blog post on GUIDED IMAGERY: Use these scripts to help children cope with anxiety and stress. I found the information to be very informative and helpful.

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