If you do spinal qigong or just read about this practice and dream of doing it for a long time, you know how much health benefits Eastern practices bring. But for children, these activities are usually boring and tiring: slow movements, concentration – they should play ball! Is it possible to motivate a child to engage in healing oriental practices?
I have been teaching qigong practice for almost 30 years, a few years ago we started teaching people all over the world qigong online. And despite numerous requests from parents, all these years we have enrolled only people over 18 years old for seminars. Adults are more motivated, they are interested in learning exercises and improving health, while children …
But the pandemic dictates its own conditions: many schoolchildren are now in conditions of forced physical inactivity – and already 12-year-olds from remote classes start to have back pain.
Therefore, we have developed a children’s workshop on qigong for the spine and are ready to share life hacks on how to motivate little mischievous people to oriental practices that require a good level of concentration.
Joint classes
We have to admit: the easiest way to motivate a child is by example. If you enjoy this or that oriental practice, your chances of getting your child involved in the classes increase significantly.
Therefore, the fastest involved in the classes were children whose mom or dad put off everything every day and, in spite of everything, allocated 15 minutes for practice. No less weighty authority can be older sisters or brothers.
Self-study
Even if you’re doing the same practice together, it’s important not to pressure your child into doing the exercises together every day. Especially at the beginning of the journey, he may need time to work out on his own and gain more confidence: disassemble the technique, try it, fool around.
Give him time and place, delegate this task – let it become his personal affair, for which he is responsible. This approach inspires and makes me feel like a more mature person: I do what adults do and I do it myself!
Miracles and mysteries
For adults, we teach qigong in a Western format: we consider the anatomy and physiology of movements, freeing the practice from a touch of mysticism and everything incomprehensible. Qigong is a technology, and anyone can study and understand it in detail.
With children, as it turned out, a different strategy works: they are attracted by the mysterious side of qigong, its magical possibilities. For example, we say to adults that working on the health of the spine and, in particular, the cervical region improves the blood supply to the brain, and hence cognitive functions – memory, concentration, and others.
For children, this story takes on more fantastic features: the people who invented the ancient practice of qigong created it in order to gain superpowers – to become more successful and powerful. Therefore, tomorrow the practice will begin to change you: people who practice qigong do everything better – they run faster, they remember dates in history better, and they even understand physics faster and deeper.
Group communication
It is not enough for children to watch some webinars or video tutorials: they learn much better any information in communication. By the way, this also applies to adults, but we have somehow learned to cope with it.
Choose online courses on oriental practices for children, where there is an opportunity to communicate in a group: in this way, even the most timid kids will gradually be drawn into the dialogue. Many of our young students first read the chat silently and only then decide to ask the first question or express their opinion.
Despite our silence, we continue to gently motivate them, and sooner or later communication will improve. And then learning begins to move much faster and more efficiently.
concentration is rising
It is believed that in order to practice Eastern practices, good concentration skills are needed: neutral attention control, slow conscious movements … And this is true! This type of concentration is not characteristic of all children, but, as our experience shows, as the lessons progress, the ability to control neutral attention grows.
Children become more balanced, calm and relaxed. And this has a positive effect not only on practice, but also on study and communication with peers – providing the very “miracles” that young qigong practitioners dream of.