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6 minutes
Spirituality can help your children to be happier and stronger and to live with purpose. Discover some activities that help develop it.
Have you ever considered the need to develop spirituality in children? Those families that practice a religion tend to place their beliefs and values at a central point of education, but what about those who do not profess any creed? In fact, Religion and spirituality are concepts that may be related, but they are not the same. We can all benefit from working with our spiritual dimension and especially the little ones.
Children come into the world charged with purity and innocence, with a clean mind and heart. They do not judge themselves, they do not deliberately harm others and they are able to appreciate and admire the beauty in everything that surrounds them. Unfortunately, in the process of socialization and over the years, it is common for these qualities to be lost. Thus, developing spirituality in children many times is to help them stay connected with their essence. If you want to know how to achieve it, continue reading.
Why is it important to develop spirituality in children?
Our society is increasingly mental, individualistic and materialistic. Logic and reason are rewarded and emotions, intuition and the ability to feel are invalidated. For this reason, many people forget the importance of connecting with spirituality, despite the fact that it is inherent in Humans.
Abraham Maslow, in his famous pyramid of needs, places self-actualization at the top of the figure. The desire to give meaning to our lives, to have a purposeof recognizing ourselves as something more than matter, accompanies us throughout life, so it is important that we know how to satisfy this need to feel whole.
In addition, various research have found that spiritual people have great advantages on a psychological and emotional level. These are more optimistic and resilient, have greater self-esteem and strength and manage to integrate better into their environment. In addition, they are able to cope with illness and adversity in a better way and show a more favorable recovery.
How to develop spirituality in children?
As you can see, the benefits of developing spirituality are numerous. Therefore, we want to propose some activities that, implemented in your children’s daily life, will help them achieve it in an easy, natural and fun way.
1. Contact with nature
Spending time in contact with nature is not only beneficial for the physical and mental health of the little ones, but it can also help them connect with their spirituality. And it is that when walking through a forest, when swimming in the sea or when observing the different species of flora and fauna that surround them, they can only admire and appreciate the beauty of all creation.
This will help them feel part of the Earth, this beautiful planet that welcomes us. Also, they will learn to respect and value each form of life. Finally, they will be able to feel the connection with the whole environment and understand that they are part of something much bigger.
2. Physical activity
When developing spirituality in children it is important that they understand that their body is like a temple. It is the magnificent vehicle that allows them to live, feel and experience every day. Therefore, they must honor it, care for it and respect it. And for this, physical activity is essential.
Running, dancing, playing or practicing any type of sport allows minors to become friends with their bodies and keep them healthy. Also, it is an excellent way to channel and manage emotions. Keep in mind that the physical plane and the psychic plane always go together.
3. Self love
Spirituality helps us understand that our very existence is valuable. Also, what ishe simple fact of being alive makes us valid and sufficient, so we do not have to mask our inner being in order to fit in. This is one of the most useful lessons throughout life. Therefore, make sure that your children have a good level of self-esteem, that they know they are worthy of affection and respect, and that they remember to stay true to themselves.
4. Learn to listen to intuition
Does this place feel right to me? Does this person cause me peace or unease? Am I making this decision out of conviction or out of fear? These are some questions that only intuition can answer and that it is important for children to start asking themselves. Beyond logical reasoning, sometimes sensations and hunches offer us valuable information that we should not neglect. Encourage your child to listen to his inner voice every day. This will be the best guide of him.
5. Practice compassion
Spirituality is not only about oneself, but also about the look with which we perceive others, about our ability to connect with them and to be empathetic and compassionate. Therefore, it is necessary teach the little ones to put themselves in the place of others before judging them. To do this, we must encourage them to perceive their pain, their shortcomings or the reasons that may lead them to act incorrectly.
If the little ones understand that we are all equal and valuable in terms of spiritual essence, they will avoid harming others. Also, your tendency to feel envy, hate, anger or resentment will decrease significantly. Compassion unites us and magnifies our spirit.
6. Meditation
Finally, you can encourage your child to practice meditation or mindfulness in your day to day. These types of techniques will give you the space you need to connect with your essence, cultivate your peace and live with self-awareness. You can use guided meditation audios, listen to relaxing musical frequencies or even recite mantras. It is about having a few minutes of tranquility and calm to be with oneself. Finally, as they say, meditating is spending time with your soul.
Feet on the ground and eyes on the sky
As you can see, spirituality is not something so abstract, foreign or intangible. In reality, it is one more part of all individuals that needs to be cared for and worked on in order to find happiness and self-realization on a daily basis. Developing spirituality in children is remind them who they are and how great they are; help them deal with human emotions and teach them that all the resources they need are inside them. It is, in short, to show them how to go through this life with their feet on the ground, but with their eyes on the sky.
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