Chalice Lighting:

May this flame we light remind us that every one of us can bring the light of love to the world.

May this clear flame be a symbol that every heart can burn bright with joy, peace, and harmony.

May the wisdom of ages speak to us through this flame and stay in us.

Every one of us can be a blessing to the world.

~ Peter Samojsky

Family Grace:

Blest be the hand that plant the seeds,

Blest be the Earth giving all that we need.

Blest be the food we share among friends,

Blest be the love that never ends.

-Joyce Poley

Guided Meditation: The Balloon

This guided meditation brings a visual component to a very simple deep breathing exercise. You can do this standing or seated.

• Relax your body and begin to take deep inhales and slow exhales through the nose.
• Start to take a slow, deep breath to fill your belly up with air, as if you’re trying to blow up a big balloon. Expand your belly as much as you can.
• Slowly let the air out of the balloon (through the nose) as you release the breath from the belly.
• Encourage your kids to feel their entire body relax each time they exhale, each time air is slowly being released from the balloon. You can even make a “hissing” noise to encourage them to slow down the exhale even more, “Like letting air out of the balloon.”
• Continue for several minutes.

If the child you’re teaching is younger, you can add a little more detail and fun to the exercise to keep them engaged. Young kids, especially under the age of 6, love the extra movement when they’re learning to bring awareness to their breath. Encourage them to stand up in a relaxed way and follow these steps:

• Ask them to think of their favorite color and picture a giant balloon of that color in their mind.
• Then have them take a slow, deep inhale through the nose, filling up their tummies with air as if trying to blow up a giant [their favorite color] balloon. As an option, you can also have them stretch their arms open and overhead to represent expansion and the big balloon.
• When their balloon is totally full, have them hold their breath at the top, and then you can “pop the balloon” for them (gesture finger to belly) and they can fall down as they exhale.

This one will likely elicit giggles and awareness of their breath.

Resource:

The Chopra Center; https://chopra.com/articles/3-kid-friendly-meditations-your-children-will-love