Former Grove Road headteacher creates calming meditation CD for children

The modern world can feel like a busy place for children, so a former headteacher of Grove Road Community Primary School has created a CD of non-religious meditations to help them live in the moment.

The health benefits of meditation for adults are well documented. It can relieve stress, lower blood pressure and alleviate depression.

But studies have also shown that teaching children how to meditate can help them become more secure and happy in themselves.

Nigel Steele was a popular headteacher of Grove Road from 1977 to 1994 before retiring.

In the 1980s and 90s, he saw how technology was beginning to have more influence in children’s lives, and not always for the better.

Fast forward to today, many parents are concerned about the amount of screen time that children are exposed to every day.

Mr Steele said:

“I noticed it as a head, children were beginning to be absorbed by something on a screen. It was having an effect on how their minds were developing. 

“‘You are what you eat’ is a very common expression, to do with our diet and the way our bodies develop. Another thing that isn’t quite as common, ‘all that you do begins in your mind’.”

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Mr Steele wrote 42 guided meditations that he would use in assembly each week at Grove Road, with the children sitting quietly and taking in simple concepts like peace, breathing and relaxation.

The meditations would include things the children could envisage in their minds such as autumn leaves, waterfalls or blades of grass.

Mr Steele said:

“It gave them a positive influence. We spent all this time developing children’s minds, it was amazing how influential in children’s minds, as we get more and more developed in technology.”

The teacher has fond memories of his time at Grove Road and said the meditations were one of the most rewarding things about his 17 years at the school. He added:

“I got quite a lot of feedback from children about how much better they felt when they had an assembly with a meditation, and how much better they felt when they went to bed at night. Their mind could escape into these situations and concepts.”

If you would like a copy of the CD which includes nine meditations and an accompanying booklet, you can email Howard Quinn at howard.quinn@dechen.org

One of the meditations is available to read below:

Harrogate school offers ‘sound baths’ to boost wellbeing

Pupils at Harrogate independent prep school Belmont Grosvenor took part in their first-ever sound bath experience as part of the school’s wellbeing programme.

Sound meditation practitioner Sudeshna Sarkar visited the school in Birstwith to run a series of sound workshops during Children’s Mental Health Week.

The older children explored the science behind sound and to learn how sounds can have a healing effect on body and mind.

A sound bath is a meditative experience where you lie down and are ‘bathed’ in different sounds.

All pupils had a go at playing the gongs, Himalayan bowls, chimes, crystal bowls and other instruments before experiencing a brief sound bath.

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Ms Sarkar, who is a mum to two BGS pupils, said she was overwhelmed by the positive response to the workshop from pupils.

She said:

“Participation in a sound bath requires no prior experience and is an excellent tool for children and adults alike to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, poor sleep and a range of conditions affecting the nervous system.”