Why Would I Use Sound Healing With Children?
Around 2010, mindfulness began to show up in classrooms around the United States. It was clear that we needed to start to teach kids how to find calm and attention for their own social and emotional intelligence, and also for better classroom management. Both meditation and yoga have been implemented in many schools and children’s programming across the country since then. The use of sound tools is a simple extension of these efforts.
Many effective mindfulness methods with children utilize movement and tactile sensations to bring about calm and present mindedness. It is very difficult for a child to pay attention to their breath, but if they are, for example, very carefully moving their bodies through an activity, this will naturally bring about the present centered focus that is desired. Implementing activity with the aim at mindful calm, is effective. How does it feel? What was it like?
Sound engages attention easily. It physically bypasses the thinking mind, and draws our attention in, and moves our emotions, without our active intention. It may be difficult for a child to pay attention to their breath, but it is much easier for them to listen to the changes of sound, and feel the vibratory nature of the sound. This is why sound offers such a rich opportunity for children to come to present mindedness. Sound is active, dynamic and effecting.
What Sound Healing Instruments Should I Use With Children In A Classroom?
Since 2021, we have started to sell many instruments to classrooms across the country. The instruments you may want to use depends on what you are hoping to do with the children.
If you would like the children to just sit or lie down and have a space in their day to relax, crystal singing bowls, or a gong would be great tools. Both cast out a good deal of vibration into a room, and are fairly loud and consuming experiences. The vibration from these instruments can really bath the participant in sound.
If you would like the children to be actively engaging with making the sound consider instruments like rattles, drums or chimes. These are simple instruments children can play and engage with, creating rhythm, or just playing attention to how the sounds change.