Today we have meditation expert Tejal V Patel on The Mag. Learn more about Tejal and her meditation practice, what led her to meditation, some of the key benefits of meditating for kids and families and much more!

Introduce yourself and your meditation brand/practice.

I’m Tejal V Patel, a former divorce attorney turned mindfulness and mediation advocate for parents and kids. I'm the host of the Time-In Talks Podcast and author of the book Meditation for Kids: 40 Activities To Manage Emotions, Ease Anxiety and Stay Focused.

For the past 10 years it’s been my mission to inspire parents and teachers to learn how to plant the seeds of mindfulness, yoga and meditation into the daily routine of our kids.
From my podcast, Instagram account, online mindful parenting courses to my book, it’s all about furthering my vision to raise the first generation of mindful, meditating kids and next generation of peace leaders.

What led you to meditation? And why the soft spot for kids meditation in particular?

As a child who experienced undiagnosed childhood anxiety as a divorce attorney speaking to clients whose children were being diagnosed with anxiety I recognized myself in them. In my mid-20’s meditation and yoga had given me a path to find relief from anxiety and everyone who I met on the path would share “If only I had known these tools as a kid, how much would my life have changed. How much pain and drama would I have avoided?

With childhood anxiety, depression and mental health issues growing at a rapid rate, I’m deeply passionate about empowering kids and their parents and teachers how to practice and reinforce mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices (the right way) into their daily routine.

This is about inspiring caretakers as much as we focus on empowering kids because as we teach, we learn these skills that many of us didn’t have as children.

I believe its every child's RIGHT to have the owner's manual on how to navigate big emotions, how to use their breath and body to release intense emotion

Is there an ideal age for kids to start meditation/yoga?

In my experience you can start planting the seeds in kids as young as 2-3 yrs old. The secret is making it age-appropriate. At that age it’s all about making it playful with songs, active yoga movement, animal breaths. I believe in trickling it into their daily routine when they are sponges and their minds are open.

My goal is to make words like meditation, yoga, taking deep breaths and mindfulness part of their daily vocabulary so as they grow it's not something foreign or weird when they get older.

I think 4-8 is the prime time to start building a daily 1-3 min meditation practice while everything they are hearing, seeing and doing receptively is being planted in their subconscious. The age we start teaching them you brush your teeth everyday to keep sugar bugs away, you wash your body everyday to keep germs away is the same time you teach them you brush your brain by meditating and taking deep breaths everyday to keep yucky thoughts and feelings away.

What are some of the key benefits of meditating? For kids? For families?

Practicing a few moments of meditation each day helps children learn that taking care of their mental health is just as important as taking care of their physical health.

It teaches kids how to handle unhappiness and big emotions like anger, impatience, disappointment and worry that are a normal part of life.

Meditation helps kids (and adults) manage their bodies, their energy, their big emotions and their reaction to stress. It gives them the essential life skills to learn how to build resilience, understand how their body feels when stressed and anxious and the right tools to ease the pressure so they can find solutions to unexpected everyday challenges that are a normal and natural part of life.