There’s a whole story behind the name ‘connected kids’.
Originally we had called our programme after the first book ‘Calm Kids – help children relax with mindful activities‘. However the name didn’t sit comfortably with me. I felt a bit ‘icky’ with the idea of adults trying to ‘calm kids’ down. Meditation isn’t about this. It is so much more.
Yes, ultimately we want kids to feel centered, grounded, ‘calm’ and peaceful. But many adults (especially parents) can’t 
imagine their kids being calm… when they are so… full of life!
Plus, some adults approach the whole idea of teaching meditation as ‘being in control’ and have a fixed idea of what kids (and teens) meditation should look like. Not so.
The first thing you realise in teaching meditation is that you are never, ever in control.
So you can see why the name ‘calm kids’ is a little misleading.
So I decided to meditate on a name that really reflected what we were trying to do. Which was…
- to help young people be comfortable in their own skin
- to help kids realise they had a body (and in an era of technology – this is a challenge)
- to help young people appreciate that they live in this world and we have a responsibility to take care of it
- to help kids enjoy meditation
- to help young people realise that strong and difficult emotions are part of life
- to help kids and young people realise that they carry the most important internal, mindful tool. Their breath.
So I wanted to teach the adults how to help kids connect to their breath, their body, their feelings, the earth and each other. Connected Kids it was.
I don’t know about your experience of meditation, but mine is personal; each experience is unique and it is the most empowering tool I have ever discovered. So I want to share it with others, and especially young people.
I once worked alongside a psychotherapist who advised me that if young people learned meditation, it would help them process many difficult situations with more ease and mean that it wasn’t stuffed away for adult-hood (in other words he would out of a job!)
Helping our future generations of kids to feel connected isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
I know that in this day and age of instant gratification and quick results, that may sound like a lot of work because you think that you are going to have to learn lots of new techniques and read a lot of books to help your kids. Well I disagree.
You simply need to be connected. Not to your mind, but to your heart. When you do this, your approach to meditation becomes bespoke and it doesn’t matter who you are teaching; their age, their abilities, their interests… you will connect to them and you will be much, much closer to helping them learn how meditation can help them feel that connection with life.
It’s what I teach. It’s what I practice. And every time I do, it never fails to amaze me.
The people on my courses or who read my books think that they are learning a techniques that they can show their kids.
Yes kids have issues and teaching them meditation can help. However to do so, the adult has to step out of the mind and into their heart. In doing so the adult connects to their heart. The adult learns to heal. The adult becomes connected to life.
Let go of the idea that you are taking your child’s hand and leading them along a meditation path that brings balance, peace, connection and healing. it is the child or the young person who is taking your hand and you are walking, learning, healing and connecting on that path. Together.
EN 
ES
I am a Jungian/non-dual counselor and meditation works beautifully with children of all ages! “Dr. Sooz”
good to hear Susan – keep up the great work!