One day a father of a Standard XII student came to me for counselling. The man said whenever his son sat for his studies, his mother, too, sat beside him, much to the chagrin of the boy. Although the mother wanted to give her son some ‘emotional support’, the boy couldn’t put up with his mother’s constant interreference. Her son’s attitude left the mother sad and dejected. There was strain in the relation between the son and mother.
This is not an uncommon situation. It is common that some parents become so intrusive that they leave little room for their children to manage their things and express their personality. They ignore the fact that children do have their individuality.
It is important that parents give freedom to their children to manage their lives. Help them to arrive decisions without forcing your ideas on them. Respect their decisions and if you can’t agree talk to them.
As children reach their adolescence, anxiety becomes a chronic problem for many parents. In such situations, meditation will help them come to terms with reality.
According to Maharishi Patanjali,
“Tatra pratyayaikatanata dhyanam” PYS 3.2
This means uninterrupted stream of the content of consciousness is dhyana (meditation).
In simple words, one can concentrate his/her mind on pooja (worship), mantra chanting, kirtan, prayer, psychic symbol, guru, God or Goddess, thoughts, sound, music, breathing, etc. In the beginning, it will be difficult to concentrate the mind for long duration. Later, practicing daily dedicatedly, the concentration of mind becomes continuous, without any breaks, fluctuations or disturbances, and then it is known as meditation (dhyana).
Meditation promotes emotional health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. It enhances self-awareness and makes one more focussed. It gives mental clarity and enhances memory. One becomes more positive and shows empathy and compassionate towards other. It helps the person to be mentally discipline and also enhances willpower to recover from addictions. It relaxes the mind by controlling the thoughts and thereby helps to sleep. It decreases blood pressure, prevents heart disease and improves breathing. It also diminishes the perception of pain in brain. It also improves relationships.
Therefore, meditation promotes emotional, mental, physical and social health.
Meditation is equally important for otherwise healthy people. Parents must practice meditation and make their child too to meditate. This will help them to reduce their anxiety, stress and keep them calm. Child will also get benefitted by increasing their concentration.
There are various ways of meditating. One you can see in the link above. It can be done anywhere. To have a healthy life, one should practise meditation daily for few minutes.
Discussion about this post