Life Fit Chat with Laura Lewis: The power of pint-sized meditation

Life Fit Chat with That's Fit Life Fit Expert Laura Lewis brings conversation provoking tidbits to your table, served up with a touch of spice! Byte-sized information that pack some punch, brought to you every Wednesday and Thursday!

Today I had the incredible opportunity to attend a Barack Obama rally in Dallas, Texas. More than 15,000 people showed up and waited in line for hours to witness this historic event. The crowd was supercharged and eager to express their enthusiasm. Emmitt Smith, longtime Dallas Cowboy legend, introduced the presidential hopeful. Smith had the crowd stomping and screaming BARACK OBAMA .... BARACK OBAMA ... BARACK OBAMA. When the man of the hour walked out on stage, you would have thought Elvis had made an appearance. His talk was long, passionate, inspiring and loud. Throughout the two-hour event, the ten year old in front of me was engrossed in his hand-held video game, not looking up for one minute. I was shocked and saddened. If something as awe-inspiring, loud and stimulating as an NFL legend and presidential hopeful can insight 15,000 people to tears and cheers but cannot tear this child's attention away from a video game, what can?

More and more we are hearing about ADHD and ADD diagnosis with elementary-aged children. Children are addicted to over-the-top action-packed stimulus. From cartoons to video games, the non-stop, super fast pace presentation of information is preventing children from being able to focus on the slow "real time" presentation of how the real world functions. Many parents do not know how to confront the challenges this lifestyle creates. Children develop behavioral problems in school because they physically and mentally cannot slow down enough to focus. Sadly, more and more children are being medicated just so they can process information in real time. An alternative solution to conventional drugs, may just be meditation.

Meditation and yoga has become an emerging trend as schools seek alternative solutions to helping students manage anxiety and stress. A 2004 survey of mindfulness programs provides evidence that many schools are indeed incorporating meditation and yoga in their educational progams. Schools have found that the techniques are easy to learn and assist children in becoming "more responsive and less reactive, more focused and less distracted, [and] more calm and less stressed." The Garrison report found that practices such as meditation and yoga can produce internal benefits for children, as well as create a more positive learning environment that encourages and nurtures attention and focus.

What do you think? Give it a try, and let us know how it works for you!