29

www.CSEcenter.org

bodies. Starting off in mountain pose, 

we acknowledge the Divine in each 

one by bowing with hands together at 

the heart chakra, saying, “Namaste.” 

Ask what “Namaste” means. The chil-

dren may have many interpretations. 

Accept what comes, adding your own. 

One easy interpretation for children is 

“I see God in you”, or “I see the highest 

Good in you.” Ask, “Is there God in 

you? In the sun? In the ceiling? Your 

neighbor? Your mother? Your father? 

Your brother and sister?” This becomes 

a game, looking for God. Most 

important is ending with acknowl-

edging the Divine by bowing to each 

person, saying, “I see God in (person’s 

name).” Allow the children to see God 

in you as well! This sets the children’s 

intention to find the highest good in 

and around themselves. Then we do 

two rounds of Sun Salutation, using 

affirmations that encourage youth to 

engage positively in life, followed by 

more poses which the children lead. 

Now our bodies are ready for medita-

tion!

We ask children to set the stage by 

preparing the room through turning 

off the lights, closing the door, and  

so forth. 

Sitting cross-legged in a circle, we 

go over body posture, demonstrating 

different postures, such as “noisy feet” 

or “quiet feet,” asking children to pick 

the ones that would be most useful for 

meditation. At the end, we emphasize 

stillness of hands and feet, hands in a 

comfortable position on the legs or lap, 

eyes closed, and ears open, attentive to 

the sound of the chime and the feeling 

of love or peace in our hearts. 

We then go over ways to tap the 

chime, asking the children to do 

thought experiments with questions 

such as, “What would happen if I hit 

the chime hard? Had my hand on top 

of the chime? Put my hand on the 

chime directly after hitting? Didn’t 

bounce the stick off the chime?” Even-

tually, they come up with the right way 

to tap the chime, just through thinking 

about it.

We give final instructions on the 

meditation, “We will all close our 

eyes and open our ears. Everyone will 

have a chance to ring the chime. We 

will listen to the sound of the chime, 

listening intently until we can hear 

it no more, then at that moment, we 

feel love in our hearts (or God in 

our hearts, peace in our hearts) and 

afterward pass the chime to the next 

person.” 

The meditation is ended with 

chanting “Om” three times. After-

wards, we remind children that 

chanting Om is like carrying a portable 

chime with us all the time. Whenever 

we want to feel God or the highest 

Good inside, we can always take a few 

minutes, settle ourselves down, chant 

and experience God within.