“Still Quiet Place: Mindfulness for Young Children,” by Dr. Amy Salzman

If you’ve ever wondered how you could introduce the life skill of meditation to your children, here’s a delightful CD that will help you do just that. Still Quiet Place is a series of guided meditations for children (ages three or older) that gently leads them to find and appreciate the ‘treasure’ within themselves. With each track, Dr. Amy Saltzman helps children to explore a different aspect their inner world, including an awareness of their physical bodies and emotions, and begin to trust their own inner wisdom.

And it’s not all about stillness and quiet. One track, called “wilds”, begins with a driving drumbeat and asks, “Do you sometimes feel wild, or crazy, or silly? Like a volcano about to erupt or a hurricane twirling around?” Dr. Saltzman honors the whole child, including the giggly, high-energy side, and encourages young people to fully experience all of their emotions and inner world.

See also:

• “Buddha at Bedtime,” by Dharmachari Nagaraja
• “Mishan’s Garden,” by James Vollbracht & Janet Brooke
• “When the Anger Ogre Visits,” by Andrée Salom
• “Goodnight Love: A Bedtime Meditation Story”
• “Loving Kindness,” by Deborah Underwood

For older children, there are a couple longer tracks on simple yoga poses and a full body scan. And there’s even something for parents, too. Dr. Saltzman says in her ‘adult intro’ that the greatest source of children’s stress is not school, peer pressure or over-scheduling, but parental stress. So the last track is for you, the grown-ups — a brief mindfulness meditation of about 13 minutes, to help you slow down and bring your awareness to the present moment.

Overall, this is a wonderful CD that can give your children a solid start toward becoming happier and healthier adults in the future.