After reading my son a bedtime story, my 5 yr old sons asks if I can meditate in his room. For the past couple of weeks, I've been doing 20 mins of meditation in my son's room while he sleeps. I sit a chair next to his bed and sit quietly, "doing nothing" as he puts it 
As I was getting ready to prepare for meditation, my son tells me that he was meditating in school today. During quiet time, he was meditating but the teacher told him to lay down. I asked my son to show me what he was doing. The little guy then proceeds to sit up on his bed, cross his legs, put his hands cupped in his lap, and close his eyes. "Were you laughing or making noise when you were meditating at school?" I ask my son. He shakes his head no. "Were other kids looking and laughing, being loud?" Again, he shakes his head no. He then lays down and looks upset.
"Do you want to meditate with Daddy?" I ask him. He smiles and nods his head. So, I'm sitting in the chair next to his bed and my son is sitting cross-legged on his bed. I start the meditation timer on my iPod Touch (Soto Timer) and we begin. My timer consists of a 45 second session, followed by an 18 minute session, ending with a 2 minute session. Each session is signaled with a little gong sound. The iPod is set on it's lowest volume, so the gong is barely audible.
I then go over some of the basics with my son. I tell him to breathe in and out through his nose, quietly so there is no sound. I tell him that he can think "in" during his inhale and "out" during his exhale. I end the instruction with, "sit quitely". During the meditation, I turn to peak at my son and he's sitting quietly on his bed with his eyes closed. He appears calm and innocent. He is not straining to keep his posture. After about 3 minutes into the session, I turn to my son and tell him he can lay down now. I ask him what he did and he replied that he was counting in his mind.
"That's good" I say. "You can count if you want." I tell him. I tuck him into bed, kiss him on the cheek, wish him a good night and return to the chair by his bed to finish my meditation session.
As I was getting ready to prepare for meditation, my son tells me that he was meditating in school today. During quiet time, he was meditating but the teacher told him to lay down. I asked my son to show me what he was doing. The little guy then proceeds to sit up on his bed, cross his legs, put his hands cupped in his lap, and close his eyes. "Were you laughing or making noise when you were meditating at school?" I ask my son. He shakes his head no. "Were other kids looking and laughing, being loud?" Again, he shakes his head no. He then lays down and looks upset.
"Do you want to meditate with Daddy?" I ask him. He smiles and nods his head. So, I'm sitting in the chair next to his bed and my son is sitting cross-legged on his bed. I start the meditation timer on my iPod Touch (Soto Timer) and we begin. My timer consists of a 45 second session, followed by an 18 minute session, ending with a 2 minute session. Each session is signaled with a little gong sound. The iPod is set on it's lowest volume, so the gong is barely audible.
I then go over some of the basics with my son. I tell him to breathe in and out through his nose, quietly so there is no sound. I tell him that he can think "in" during his inhale and "out" during his exhale. I end the instruction with, "sit quitely". During the meditation, I turn to peak at my son and he's sitting quietly on his bed with his eyes closed. He appears calm and innocent. He is not straining to keep his posture. After about 3 minutes into the session, I turn to my son and tell him he can lay down now. I ask him what he did and he replied that he was counting in his mind.
"That's good" I say. "You can count if you want." I tell him. I tuck him into bed, kiss him on the cheek, wish him a good night and return to the chair by his bed to finish my meditation session.
