Meditation Ideas for All Ages
I have had a consistent yoga practice since the late 90s, before it was really cool. Yoga incorporates meditation to an extent at the end of each practice. A few years ago I had an amazing yoga instructor who, unbeknownst to him, also doubled as a spiritual guide for me. In his classes, my meditative practice went to amazing, healing places. But I really fell in love with meditation last year when a friend of mine lost her son in an accident. I made a commitment to meditate daily for her during the first 45 days of her grief and it changed my life. Learning to wrap her in love in my thoughts and absorbing some of her pain into my practice made me a more loving, mindful human being.
Brain scans confirm that meditation changes the brain...experience confirms that it changes our souls. Anyone suffering with depression, anxiety, marital stress, chronic illness...or just anyone breathing, can benefit from a consistent meditative practice. Even if it's only 5-10 minutes a day, meditation CAN make a difference. Here are some of my favorites.
InsightTimer App
I was first introduced to this app from a colleague friend who recommends this to all of her clients. I looked into it for myself and I love it. I like seeing the number of people in the world who are meditating at the same time as me. Cool feature. I like that you can search for guided meditations (where someone talks to you and has you picture things or ponder ideas) that fit your own topic, you can bookmark favorites, and you can also meditate to a timed silence or timed music selection. Great for beginners or meditation gurus.
8 Track App
8 Track isn't even a meditation app, but I use it as one. 8 track is a collection of someone else's playlists. DJs, teens, adults all upload their playlists and then they tag them with popular words so that you can find them for yourself. SO if I am looking for dub step trip hop while I am cooking, all playlists that have been tagged this way will come up for my review. If I want fresh holiday music during the winter months, I can search for this too. But maybe I am in the mood for chanting, or flutes or someone else's version of meditation music. I have many playlists saved in 8 tracks that help me arrive at my meditative place.
Sarah Blondin
I found Sarah Blondin while traveling around on InsightTimer. I quickly found that she spoke to me. Her voice and message resonate with how I want to live my life: free of fear and full of compassion and intention. Check out her youtube meditative collections here.
HeadSpace App
I sent my teenage daughter on a mission to find the best meditation app for teens and this is what she came up with. HeadSpace is an app I hear a lot about from clients as well. From what I understand, it can teach you how to meditate slowly, one day at a time and can help you with specific topics too.
Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Activities for Children
This is an AMAZING book and CD for children. The book has ideas and activities for parents to try and the CD is 60 minutes of meditations. This is great for any child who struggles with anxiety, panic, insomnia. The exercises on the CD vary from tackling worry thoughts, to progressive music relaxation to self control. I can't recommend this enough. The only tricky thing is you still have to own a CD player.
(Written by Gabrielle Anderson, practice owner/therapist)
Brain scans confirm that meditation changes the brain...experience confirms that it changes our souls. Anyone suffering with depression, anxiety, marital stress, chronic illness...or just anyone breathing, can benefit from a consistent meditative practice. Even if it's only 5-10 minutes a day, meditation CAN make a difference. Here are some of my favorites.
InsightTimer App
I was first introduced to this app from a colleague friend who recommends this to all of her clients. I looked into it for myself and I love it. I like seeing the number of people in the world who are meditating at the same time as me. Cool feature. I like that you can search for guided meditations (where someone talks to you and has you picture things or ponder ideas) that fit your own topic, you can bookmark favorites, and you can also meditate to a timed silence or timed music selection. Great for beginners or meditation gurus.
8 Track App
8 Track isn't even a meditation app, but I use it as one. 8 track is a collection of someone else's playlists. DJs, teens, adults all upload their playlists and then they tag them with popular words so that you can find them for yourself. SO if I am looking for dub step trip hop while I am cooking, all playlists that have been tagged this way will come up for my review. If I want fresh holiday music during the winter months, I can search for this too. But maybe I am in the mood for chanting, or flutes or someone else's version of meditation music. I have many playlists saved in 8 tracks that help me arrive at my meditative place.
Sarah Blondin
I found Sarah Blondin while traveling around on InsightTimer. I quickly found that she spoke to me. Her voice and message resonate with how I want to live my life: free of fear and full of compassion and intention. Check out her youtube meditative collections here.
HeadSpace App
I sent my teenage daughter on a mission to find the best meditation app for teens and this is what she came up with. HeadSpace is an app I hear a lot about from clients as well. From what I understand, it can teach you how to meditate slowly, one day at a time and can help you with specific topics too.
Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Activities for Children
This is an AMAZING book and CD for children. The book has ideas and activities for parents to try and the CD is 60 minutes of meditations. This is great for any child who struggles with anxiety, panic, insomnia. The exercises on the CD vary from tackling worry thoughts, to progressive music relaxation to self control. I can't recommend this enough. The only tricky thing is you still have to own a CD player.
(Written by Gabrielle Anderson, practice owner/therapist)
