One of the best things that’s happened during quarantine is that I taught my two-year-old a meditation practice. Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t doing TM for 20 minutes. It’s more like a dance party with two minutes of quiet time but she truly settles into those two minutes of quiet time and it’s beautiful. My wish for her is that she holds onto this practice and builds upon it as I know it will serve her well.

Our practice is based on The Class by Taryn Toomey and it goes like this:

1. Shake the energy out
We spend about 5 minutes jumping around and shaking the energy out to music. The idea of this is is that it allows you to cleanse the energy in your body and helps you let go of any unwanted energy. I lead her by choosing a move and we alternate every minute or so. For example, jumping up and down, shaking arms, etc.

2. Release noises
While we shake out the energy, for a few of the moves, I encourage her to make sounds. It feels funny at first but the releasing loud noises can be very freeing for children and adults. Sounds like “huh” or a fluttering of the lips always play well.

3. Savasana
Once we’ve completed shaking out our energy, we lay down flat on our backs with one hand over our heart and feel our heartbeat. We stay here for about 30 seconds then roll onto our right side and into a seated position.

4. Gratitude
When we get into a seated position, we say one nice thing that we’re grateful for out loud. I go first to help encourage her. In the beginning, I’d offer her suggestions but now she’s got it and proudly shares.

5. Meditate
In a seated position with our eyes closed, we put our hands in prayer position and sit in silence. The goal is to sit here for one to two minutes but I let her dictate the timing which has lengthened with each practice. We close the practice by bringing our hands up to third-eye center and we bow.

Simple and a little silly but she loves it! And it’s been a fun bonding experience.