Young Meditators Make a Journey Through
Time
Picture windows provide two walls of majestic light on either
side of a fireplace framed with stacked stones. A healthy spider
plant sits upon the mantle. Stylish yet comfortable couches rest
on a large oriental rug. A perfect spot for a meditation class
for children. Angela Marschall and her two children Elfe, 12 and
George, 11 spent the morning preparing for their guests to arrive.
Twin sisters Adriana and Vivianna, 14 and their younger sister
and brother Gabriela, 10 and Leo, 5 arrive; along with Michael
M., 12 and his sister Gabriella M, 9.
Before the children meditate, Angela, the teacher, explains,
“We don’t have to sit up or lie down. Just get into
a position that is comfortable.” She further suggests they
put their hands over their eyes to block the light out. Most of
the children don’t seem to need to do this. Some children
collect pillows and place them under and around their bodies in
a variety of ways until they achieve the comfort they are striving
for. Vivianna pulls a blanket off her sister Arianna who is covered
from head to foot with pillows other children have passed up.
No one seems to mind all the fidgeting and other adjustments the
children make. The movement subsides and children are strewn across
the room – lying on the floor and resting on couches and
chairs. There are just a few more giggles before the room falls
into a tranquil silence.
Angela’s voice is soft. “Take a deep in-breath. When
you breathe back out, feel your body relaxing. We’ll take
two more breaths. Deep breathe in and relax your legs as you breathe
out.” Deep into the meditation, the children take gentle
breaths, so gentle one might mistake their peacefulness for sleep.
One might also be surprised to learn that behind their closed
eyes and inside their still bodies, these children are being swept
up into a grand adventure, riding in their very own time machines.
They are making touchdowns in lands many years away, yet the experience
is right here in this exact moment.
This present moment is where all moments meet and these children
are guided to any moment in their existence, whether it is their
childhood or even before their conception. They are seeing
sunshine that hit the Earth long ago, hearing voices
rooted in their memories of the past and feeling emotions
of grief, happiness, courage and strength. Angela guides the children
through this journey, although unlike typical journey meditations,
here the children choose where they are going, how they get there
and what they see when they arrive.
A short 12 minutes later Angela is finished and invites the children
to open their eyes whenever they are ready. Children begin to
stir, shifting their limbs, pushing themselves into more upright
positions. The room is still and almost completely silent. Angela
gazes at the awakening children and then asks them to share what
they heard, felt and saw during their meditation.
Angela’s son George begins, “It was before Christ.
I was in a garden with bricks on the ground. I went to this fountain.
I asked where I was and I heard, ‘Wherever you want to be.’
I scooped up water from the fountain and put it in a bottle. I
did this because it made me feel better. I don’t know how
to explain it.” The class soaks in their classmate’s
experience before shifting their attention to Adriana. Her voice
is soft and humble. She says she doesn’t know where she
went but she knows it was night time and she was a little
girl. She sat beside a man she did not know and she asked him,
“Why am I here?” He answered, “Just to get away.”
Adriana adds, “It felt good.”
Adriana’s sister, Vivianna speaks up next. “I found
myself in my backyard, I saw my grandmother reach out to me.”
Vivianna is filled with emotion. Her voice begins to crack. “I
looked down and noticed I was in water. I was in our pool I used
to swim in all the time. Just talking to my grandmother and being
able to see her in front of me moving and standing up straight
by herself made me feel so good.” With this, Vivianna’s
head falls into her hands. She holds back tears with her fingers.
She takes a deep breath and opens up even more to herself and
her classmates, “That was a special day. The one day I can
never forget from my past. I never saw the sun shine so brightly.”
Vivianna’s grandmother tells her to be strong always. This
message strikes a cord with her twin sister also, who shares her
sister’s emotion. Their younger sister Gabriela and her
friend, who sit on the floor a few feet in front of them, turn
around to take in this energy no one can quite explain.
The tone is tender as everyone in the room holds affection for
the moment. Attention gradually shifts to Angela’s daughter
Elfe. Elfe paints an enchanting picture of a forest leading to
a waterfall. She walks barefooted to the waterfall where she meets
deer and rabbits. An angel comes out from the waterfall with a
message for Elfe. “The angel told me I should be really
happy because I’ve done really well letting go of my great
grandpa and I should keep going.” Elfe hugs her knees and
drops her head. She might be crying gently. Angela reaches over
to her daughter to comfort her. The class is silent for several
moments.
There are still children eager to share their stories. Elfe,
face still buried in her tucked knees is embraced by Angela who
engages Gabriella M.’s words about butterflies with a warm
smile. All is well. Gabriela speaks next. She says she saw God
and heard that she needs to remember she is an amazing writer,
to walk with her light and not to feel alone. Michael passes.
Maybe the emotions are high and he would rather the intensity
move on to someone else. Maybe he is contemplating his own inner
journey and will be ready to talk about it later. Or maybe it
is his story and his alone to experience. Whatever it is, no one
puts any pressure on him to speak. Five-year-old Leo has a story
to tell as well but he chooses to tell it through his art later.
Before moving on to the next segment of the class, Angela explains
to the children that if they ever need an answer to a question
they can ask their time machine to bring them wherever they need
to be to get their message. She then asks the group if they would
do this meditation again. The children nod yes and smile –
the kind of smile a child radiates when their mother has shown
them something revolutionary but are tempted not to express how
truly ground-breaking they believe it to be.
Angela adds, “Meditation is a wonderful way to listen to
yourself to see what comes up. Drawing and writing is a wonderful
way to bring out what you just experienced.” Angela provides
the children with paper and crayons and asks them to draw or write
about something they felt, heard or saw during their meditation.
She urges them to spend this time on something they feel the strongest
about. Native American flute music plays in the background offering
a soothing atmosphere for these young meditators to settle into
their creative projects.
Although Leo was quiet during the sharing part of the class,
he is now enthusiastic to share his drawing of his time machine
and train with everyone there. Vivianna draws a picture of her
grandmother, herself and her childhood swimming pool. Gabriela,
who was reminded of her writing talent in her meditation, writes
a story about her meditation. Elfe draws trees, a waterfall, a
path, a deer, several birds and her angel emerging from the pouring
water. Her brother George draws his time machine, which is a giant
shoe divided into compartments. A line divides his page in two.
On the other side is a six-tiered fountain and a figure of himself
next to it. Above this is the bottle he filled. Each item is carefully
labeled, “Fountain,” “Bottle with water,”
etc.
Adriana draws a silhouette of her child-self sitting beside a
man looking up into a night sky filled with stars and a crescent
moon. The beauty of the drawing shines through despite her doubt
about its splendor. Gabriella M. depicts herself among trees and
butterflies with the words “Be Free” across the top.
George reaches for Gabriela’s handwritten story and asks
her if he can read it. She obliges.
Angela Created a Comfortable Space for her Students
Before Angela led these meditators through their journey, she
facilitated activities and discussions that might have been the
foundation for her students’ profound experiences. Angela
reinvented the lighthearted song and dance we all know and love,
the Hokey Pokey. Instead of putting an arm or a foot in, Angela
asked her students to put in something they would like to let
go of. The children danced away their worries about math teachers,
final exams, fighting, anger management, and “people that
died in my family.”
In an effort to help her students own their definitions of meditation,
she asked them what meditation meant to them personally. One child
shared that meditation is a “process when you relax and
let go of anger and sadness.” Another said meditation is
“a cure for everything that is bad.” And
another added meditation “helps if you feel like you need
to cry about someone, then you can cry.” After all the children
had a chance to share their perspective, Angela shared hers. She
told the children meditation helps her get in contact with her
inner-self and expressed the importance of connecting with this
part of themselves. She concluded, “We can listen to our
heart in meditation.”
Angela also asked the children when they typically sit and relax.
Angela’s daughter Elfe shared she sometimes relaxes after
she has had an argument with someone. She sits quietly and asks
God for a solution. Adriana shared that she unwinds sometimes
sitting in front of her computer. She simply closes her eyes and
relaxes. Michael shared that he relaxes when he gets home from
school and sits quietly on his bed. Sometimes for 20 minutes.
Vivianna mentioned that she plays her Peace CD and sits
down to draw. “I usually like to draw flowers, this calms
me down.”
Lastly, Angela did not make meditation out to be anything far
reaching or challenging. She told the children “Meditation
is very easy. You do not need to practice for a long time, just
close your eyes and allow yourselves to do it.” These teens
and young children accessed their inner selves so deeply, experienced
their wonder, trusted the meditative process, then opened up so
genuinely within a group, sharing their experiences. Angela created
a loving space for children to journey within and her courageous
students found strength in their vulnerability and inner wisdom.
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About Angela
Marschall: For several years Angela guided children ages 10
to14 through meditations in Austria. She currently guides
large groups of adults through meditation at her church. Angela
is a Certified Child Meditation Facilitator, receiving her
training with Sarah Wood Vallely, author of Sensational
Meditation for Children. Angela is also an Angel Therapy
Practitioner, Medical Intuitive and Spiritual Counselor in
the New York suburban area. |
Article written by Sarah Wood Vallely Copyright
2007 Satya International
