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Meditation Is an Open Sky: Mindfulness for Kids
Mindfulness meditation for kids. Kids of any age will learn simple exercises to help manage stress and emotions, find focus, and face challenges. They'll discover how to feel safe when scared, relax when anxious, spread kindness, and calm anger when frustrated. Simple, secular, and mainstream, this mindfulness book is an excellent tool for helping kids deal with the stresses of everyday life and improve emotional health. Meditation guide with relaxation techniques. Stress-reduction aid
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2015
About the author
Whitney Stewart
54 books31 followersWhitney Stewart has interviewed the 14th Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Sir Edmund Hillary for her young adult biographies. She has traveled all over Europe and Asia to write her books. When she is not writing, she is usually visiting schools and libraries to give talks.
Her personal interests are in reading, traveling, yoga, meditation, and sea kayaking. She lives with her husband and son.
Her personal interests are in reading, traveling, yoga, meditation, and sea kayaking. She lives with her husband and son.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 16, 2015
Man I wish I'd had a book like this when I was a kid.
So, I suffer from an anxiety disorder and some dramatic mood swings, and I think I probably always have. As a kid I threw a lot of fits and let myself get extremely angry, sad, and down on myself. My parents suggested a whole bunch of coping techniques, but I didn't take to any of them. And I never even knew that meditation can help with anxiety until I was an adult.
I think Meditation Is an Open Sky would be a great tool for kids who have a difficult time regulating their emotions, because of all the cute illustrations and because there are several different meditations for different situations: like what to do when you're angry, scared, stressed, etc. All of the meditations encourage kids to use their imagination as a tool to make themselves feel better. When clearing your mind, imagine your thoughts are popping like bubbles. When you're feeling overwhelmed imagine yourself as a puzzle coming apart. What's underneath all those pieces? The wisdom you had all along. Now put yourself back together. I took a meditation class in college a few years ago, and we did some fun stuff, but these meditations are so creative and practical, that I'm seriously going to try them myself the next time I feel the need to meditate. Yah, I actually think this would be a great book for adults too. Because honestly, most of the meditations I've learned have been pretty much the same: concentrate on your breath and let your thoughts float away and/or imagine a happy place. Sometimes, you're bound to get bored doing the same thing over and over again.
Also, elephants really are the best meditation animals. Not only are they native to India like Buddhism, but they're also known for being huge and burdensome AND just as often they are sweet and friendly, just like our emotions.
So, I suffer from an anxiety disorder and some dramatic mood swings, and I think I probably always have. As a kid I threw a lot of fits and let myself get extremely angry, sad, and down on myself. My parents suggested a whole bunch of coping techniques, but I didn't take to any of them. And I never even knew that meditation can help with anxiety until I was an adult.
I think Meditation Is an Open Sky would be a great tool for kids who have a difficult time regulating their emotions, because of all the cute illustrations and because there are several different meditations for different situations: like what to do when you're angry, scared, stressed, etc. All of the meditations encourage kids to use their imagination as a tool to make themselves feel better. When clearing your mind, imagine your thoughts are popping like bubbles. When you're feeling overwhelmed imagine yourself as a puzzle coming apart. What's underneath all those pieces? The wisdom you had all along. Now put yourself back together. I took a meditation class in college a few years ago, and we did some fun stuff, but these meditations are so creative and practical, that I'm seriously going to try them myself the next time I feel the need to meditate. Yah, I actually think this would be a great book for adults too. Because honestly, most of the meditations I've learned have been pretty much the same: concentrate on your breath and let your thoughts float away and/or imagine a happy place. Sometimes, you're bound to get bored doing the same thing over and over again.
Also, elephants really are the best meditation animals. Not only are they native to India like Buddhism, but they're also known for being huge and burdensome AND just as often they are sweet and friendly, just like our emotions.
July 17, 2023
یه کتاب خیلی قشنگ و کوچیک و مفید که روش مراقبه و ذهن آگاهی رو با تمرین های مختلف یاد میده و هم برای بچه ها قابل استفاده س و هم برای بزرگترها، و تازه به نظرم آدم-بزرگها بیشتر باهاش حال کنن.
April 8, 2015
Meditation Is an Open Sky: Mindfulness for Kids
About the Book:
Feeling mindful is feeling good! You know when you're having a bad day, you have that wobbly feeling inside and nothing seems to go right? Find a quiet place, sit down, and meditate! In this daily companion, kids of any age will learn simple exercises to help manage stress and emotions, find focus, and face challenges. They'll discover how to feel safe when scared, relax when anxious, spread kindness, and calm anger when frustrated. Simple, secular, and mainstream, this mindfulness book is an excellent tool for helping kids deal with the stresses of everyday life.
About the Author:
Whitney Stewart is a children's book author, meditation teacher, and a born adventurer. She has traveled to Tibet, Nepal, and India and teaches mindfulness at Tulane University and to children and teens. Her most recent children's book is A Catfish Tale: A Bayou Story of the Fisherman and His Wife. Whitney lives in Louisiana, with her husband and son.
My Review:
Such a sweet children's book meant to teach them how to overcome stressors in their life by meditating upon them and imagining them as thought bubbles. And each child has the power to pop them in an effort to do away with them forever. The soft colors and the familiar images of an elephant and monkey will definitely play to their softer side as they read how to accomplish banishing the evils of the day.
This book is meant for the mainstream conscious people and it is along more of the secular ways of looking at things. My readers know that I'm all about God handling my stresses but I also like to give you all some opinions on other books as well, just to give you a wide range. It is a book that will give you just that!
**Disclosure**This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Pump Up Your Book.
About the Book:
Feeling mindful is feeling good! You know when you're having a bad day, you have that wobbly feeling inside and nothing seems to go right? Find a quiet place, sit down, and meditate! In this daily companion, kids of any age will learn simple exercises to help manage stress and emotions, find focus, and face challenges. They'll discover how to feel safe when scared, relax when anxious, spread kindness, and calm anger when frustrated. Simple, secular, and mainstream, this mindfulness book is an excellent tool for helping kids deal with the stresses of everyday life.
About the Author:
Whitney Stewart is a children's book author, meditation teacher, and a born adventurer. She has traveled to Tibet, Nepal, and India and teaches mindfulness at Tulane University and to children and teens. Her most recent children's book is A Catfish Tale: A Bayou Story of the Fisherman and His Wife. Whitney lives in Louisiana, with her husband and son.
My Review:
Such a sweet children's book meant to teach them how to overcome stressors in their life by meditating upon them and imagining them as thought bubbles. And each child has the power to pop them in an effort to do away with them forever. The soft colors and the familiar images of an elephant and monkey will definitely play to their softer side as they read how to accomplish banishing the evils of the day.
This book is meant for the mainstream conscious people and it is along more of the secular ways of looking at things. My readers know that I'm all about God handling my stresses but I also like to give you all some opinions on other books as well, just to give you a wide range. It is a book that will give you just that!
**Disclosure**This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Pump Up Your Book.
March 3, 2015
A beautiful book to introduce the concepts of Meditation to young children.
While the concepts are presently simply, this is a book that can grow with a child.
The elephant character will make readers of all ages smile.
This simple meditation book covers reasons for meditating, diffferent feelings of discomfort,
and ways to find peace within oneself. As you read you will find yourself watching your breathe
and focusing on pacing breaths slower. There are even suggestions for finding calm so you can comfort a friend.
The book concludes with answers to some common questions beginners have about meditation.
I did receive this book through a Goodreads giveaway but the review and opinions are my own.
While the concepts are presently simply, this is a book that can grow with a child.
The elephant character will make readers of all ages smile.
This simple meditation book covers reasons for meditating, diffferent feelings of discomfort,
and ways to find peace within oneself. As you read you will find yourself watching your breathe
and focusing on pacing breaths slower. There are even suggestions for finding calm so you can comfort a friend.
The book concludes with answers to some common questions beginners have about meditation.
I did receive this book through a Goodreads giveaway but the review and opinions are my own.
March 23, 2016
A great introduction to meditation for kids! The beginning of the book explains what meditation is and then it gives you 9 different meditation practices to try. I liked the variety. I think the author did an excellent job in making it child friendly. The end of the book has a section of questions about meditation that address many common concerns.
June 4, 2015
What a great book about mindfulness and meditation. Gives simple tips on how to deal with different emotions and feelings. Recommend for ages 5-9.
November 12, 2015
A brilliant concept, perfectly executed. My 6-year-old daughter really enjoys doing these simple meditations before bed.
April 12, 2019
2-page spreads give simple explanations for meditation techniques to calm the mind and process emotions. Excellent for children and young teens.
December 10, 2020
This is an excellent introduction to meditation and mindfulness for kids. Heck, I found it helpful. It has practical tips, actual techniques, and simple exercises. It does explain meditation and how it can help, but I love that it has real instruction that kids can try for themselves.
May 10, 2015
I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Meditation is an Open Sky is a children’s book that teaches children how to meditate. At the beginning of the book, it explains that meditation doesn’t solve problems but it does help us deal with problems. It contains 9 different meditation exercises and suggests at the beginning to read through it and then pick one to do. At the end of the book, there are answers to commonly asked questions such as what if you get bored while meditating or what if your legs get sore?
Meditation is an Open Sky is not only easy to understand, but it has cute pictures.
I think it’s a great idea to teach meditation to children. It’s a good skill to learn and a great tool to help them not only now, but when they’re going through their teen years.
Meditation is an Open Sky is a children’s book that teaches children how to meditate. At the beginning of the book, it explains that meditation doesn’t solve problems but it does help us deal with problems. It contains 9 different meditation exercises and suggests at the beginning to read through it and then pick one to do. At the end of the book, there are answers to commonly asked questions such as what if you get bored while meditating or what if your legs get sore?
Meditation is an Open Sky is not only easy to understand, but it has cute pictures.
I think it’s a great idea to teach meditation to children. It’s a good skill to learn and a great tool to help them not only now, but when they’re going through their teen years.
April 19, 2015
This is a book for ages 4 – 7 that teaches children how to meditate in order to remove different types of stress from their daily lives. It is written with a peacefulness that definitely comes through in the words and the illustrations. It teaches that meditation will not solve your problems but will help you deal with them in a positive way. The author has structured the book into sections that specifically relate to different types of stresses, security, focus, relaxation and many more.
The elephant and monkey characters, illustrated by Sally Rippen, will appeal to children as will the relaxed and calm way in which the book was written.
The elephant and monkey characters, illustrated by Sally Rippen, will appeal to children as will the relaxed and calm way in which the book was written.
February 8, 2017
#SEL #meditation some useful meditation exercises that can be employed at school or home to calm children (and adults!) nicely presented
November 30, 2019
Feeling mindful is feeling good! You know when you’re having a bad day, you have that wobbly feeling inside and nothing seems to go right? Find a quiet place, sit down, and meditate! In this daily companion, kids of any age will learn simple exercises to help manage stress and emotions, find focus, and face challenges. They’ll discover how to feel safe when scared, relax when anxious, spread kindness, and calm anger when frustrated. Simple, secular, and mainstream, this mindfulness book is an excellent tool for helping kids deal with the stresses of everyday life.
July 3, 2015
Age: K-3rd grade
Emotions: All
Sports: Yoga
A delightfully simple presentation of nine introductory exercises to do to center yourself, rebuild confidence, be open to the world. Kids may still need an adult to guide them through these, but the illustrations do offer a visual representation of abstract emotions and behavior for the younger grade school crowd. Stewart is encouraging throughout the book without feeling wordy or fake. A well thought out meditation guide.
Emotions: All
Sports: Yoga
A delightfully simple presentation of nine introductory exercises to do to center yourself, rebuild confidence, be open to the world. Kids may still need an adult to guide them through these, but the illustrations do offer a visual representation of abstract emotions and behavior for the younger grade school crowd. Stewart is encouraging throughout the book without feeling wordy or fake. A well thought out meditation guide.
August 25, 2017
I've been looking for something for my first-grade granddaughter, and I think this is it. It's just whimsical enough to appeal to her, and the instructions are very clearly written so that even someone without experience meditating could use it comfortably. I'm inclined to try some of the exercises myself, which are categorized by the kind of emotion you're feeling, despite my being well over the age for which it was written.
June 5, 2015
Simple to follow meditations for kids in a variety of situations. Lots of light focused meditations, some visualizations. I think the pictures enhance the text. I like the tips page at the end that gave suggestions for what to do if you get bored, sleepy, sore, and so on.
June 21, 2016
Nine straightforward meditation-through-visualization exercises for elementary-aged children to help with a variety of unquiet mind and body situations - seeking calm, seeking wisdom, seeking comfort, seeking kindness. Secular and simple without being oversimple or insincere.
June 4, 2018
My 4 yo and I found this little how-to meditate guide (and why!) with cute illustrations to be easy to understand and fun to try.
January 27, 2018
This book can teach kids (and adults) on how to meditate. It has simple exercises to help kids (and adults) deal with many emotions and stress.
March 4, 2018
A book of mindfulness that I love. Meditation for kids. The techniques work.
September 22, 2018
Nice meditation exercises for kids for different purposes - one for focus, for relaxation, for wisdom, for control, etc.
December 27, 2018
Hate meditation. Hate meditation books. Some things I just don't like. (G, age 6)
I thought it was cute, but didn't work for my kids when they are actively feeling strong emotions. (mom, age 35)
I thought it was cute, but didn't work for my kids when they are actively feeling strong emotions. (mom, age 35)
April 4, 2019
Gives nine examples of simple meditations that you can do to clear your mind.
Read
March 4, 2024it being so focused on forming mental images annoyed me as a person with aphantasia hahaha
March 25, 2020
Great book for mindfulness for all ages. The exercises are simple and well explained.
April 23, 2016
I read this to one of my daughters today after she and her brother had a disagreement. She was irritated with him and sulking on the chair. I held her and we read through each of the meditation exercises.
Reading through it with her (age 9) worked because of her age and her temperament. She breathed when directed and listened to the end. With my younger daughter I think it would be better to know the exercises on my own and guide her through them, rather than read them to her.
The concepts are easily understood and the situations for which each meditation is useful was well-explained (feeling sad and mad and not knowing why). At the end of the meditation examples there is a "what if I feel_____" section for when you feel bored or wiggly or tired during meditation. Perfect!
This was a great introductory primer for adults and children who want to learn more about using mindfulness and meditation every day.
Reading through it with her (age 9) worked because of her age and her temperament. She breathed when directed and listened to the end. With my younger daughter I think it would be better to know the exercises on my own and guide her through them, rather than read them to her.
The concepts are easily understood and the situations for which each meditation is useful was well-explained (feeling sad and mad and not knowing why). At the end of the meditation examples there is a "what if I feel_____" section for when you feel bored or wiggly or tired during meditation. Perfect!
This was a great introductory primer for adults and children who want to learn more about using mindfulness and meditation every day.
June 8, 2015
This is the first time I have ever seen a meditation book aimed for young children. The book looks friendly and inviting. My boys loved that it used elephants to show what to do.
There were many different ways to do meditation. I was able to read them to my boys and help them pick out on they would want to do. It was something that id not last very long, but I think will be helpful in the future.
After all the different ways to meditate, it talked about how it can be hard to start but just to stick to it starting a little at a time. This is definitely a book we are going to be using more.
There were many different ways to do meditation. I was able to read them to my boys and help them pick out on they would want to do. It was something that id not last very long, but I think will be helpful in the future.
After all the different ways to meditate, it talked about how it can be hard to start but just to stick to it starting a little at a time. This is definitely a book we are going to be using more.
April 6, 2016
Meditation is often too abstract for young children. The suggestions to visualize lights in many of these meditations seem too confusing for young children to understand. The one activity I liked was the one where children were asked to imagine drawing something in their minds, and bring their attention back to the drawing if their thoughts wandered.
December 25, 2016
An instructive picture book on mindfulness for children. I like that it includes 9 different exercises to try for different emotions or goals, such as focus, kindness or security.
The language and concepts might make this more appropriate for somewhat older kids than many picture books. Adults could also benefit from practicing these exercises with their kids.
The language and concepts might make this more appropriate for somewhat older kids than many picture books. Adults could also benefit from practicing these exercises with their kids.
April 25, 2015
features various types of meditation samples for children. this would be a great addition at the end of my library yoga programs.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews