Guided Visualisations - stress related illness and benefits (for parents)

Never too young to enjoy reading
or quiet meditation / visualisations

STRESS RELATED ILLNESS VS HEALTH AND HARMONY:
In our modern society medical Doctors now recognise 'stress related disorders' as a very real part of illness and concerns.
More & more we discover that children either directly or indirectly are now also often suffering these same symptoms. As life speeds up, people rely more heavily on e-communications, we often find ourselves lost on our life path.
We often feel out of touch with ourselves and mother earth, many people feel they have no one that is 'there for them'

Guided visualisations allow a calming point, a point to reconnect with ourselves and what is important to us.
They create stress releasing hormones and assist us to cope better with day to day life. Through the use of angels or guides, we also develop a sense of not being on our own, of having someone who loves us share any burden that may come our way.

BENEFITS OF VISUALISATION OVER MEDITATION:
For so many people who have busy lives, when they try to meditate their thoughts gradually switch back to life / work / shopping / concerns and troubles and it becomes increasingly more difficult to meditate. Guided visualisations (especially for children) make this process so much easier. Rather than excluding thoughts from the mind, the visualisation provides creative thoughts for the mind to focus on, which in turn create a calm, peaceful outlook and the ability to cope more easily with life.

Studies in China have found that when the mind is calm and focused, illness disappears and many ailments are calmed or even removed.

Many parents have reported that through the use of guided visualisations their children allow them to calmly leave the room at bedtime, sleep more peacefully and deeper and are often excited in the morning to share the wonderful adventure they went on in their visualisation the night before
(*Parents tip - be excited with your child(ren) if they wish to share this with you, encourage their creativity and their stories, always acknowledge their experiences as OK even if some may concern you or seem troubling, over time they will allow you to glimpse what is going on for your child and how to best assist them)

All of the visualisations we create for the children have different endings, however they all begin much the same.
We find through the continuity of the scenes the children are able to remember what is happening, this creates a sense of comfort and safety in what's to come and allows them to create their own visualisations once they become familiar with the techniques.

HOW TO SET UP MEDITATION/ GUIDED VISUALISATIONS FOR CHILDREN:
To begin, get the child warm and comfortable, make sure they have been to the bathroom, cleaned teeth, said goodnight to whomever they need to.
Explain the rules which are:

• Lay still (don't worry about a few wriggles and jiggles, especially in the beginning)
• No talking, only listening to the person giving the visualisation. (Some times, something so exciting will happen in the visualisation that the child simply'must' immediately tell you about it, allow this to be OK, yet ask them to whisper and remain very calm and then gently state "quiet now, stay with your meditation" (Meditation is an easier word than visualisation for children, yet it doesn't really matter which you choose to use
  *If a child continues to talk, wriggle, jump around, quietly get up and say, well I guess we won't be able to do our visualisation tonight, you'll need to wait until tomorrow to discover the magical world that I was going to share with you.
  I have found that generally this will only need to be done once or twice and the child(ren) will calm down immediately and listen.
  The child(ren) look forward to the journey they are being taken on and their special time with you and don't want to miss out and once they have heard a couple (you may need to just push through the wriggling and talking the 1st couple of nights so they know what is in store) they will quickly quiet down to listen.
  I usually give 1 or 2 warnings and then quietly leave - this produced much screaming and protests the first time but once the children realised I would calmly leave and not come back - it never happened again.
• The nice thing with guided visualisations is that although the children are listening to the same story - it is filtered through their own minds and imagination, therefore the same storyline can produce 2 entirely different stories to different children. In this way, we often shared visualisations with our (then) 5 year old and 11 year old at the same time and both immensely enjoyed them.
• Explain before you begin that at the end you will be calmly leaving the room and allowing the child(ren) time to imagine their own outcomes, however, you will never disappear without letting them know you are leaving (this way they can relax and know that they are in control of the situation and will not have any nasty surprises of a parent quietly disappearing)
  Explain that the reason you are leaving is so that they can fully explore these magical worlds with their special friends and guides. Let them know that you are eagerly awaiting to hear their stories in the morning and that they cannot tell you that night as the stories may well filter into their dreams and turn out differently.
  I often found this way, when I got up in the morning that a child (or 2) was eagerly waiting saying "you are not going to believe what happened / where I went last night" and then delight in all the wonderful adventures they had experienced.



Even babies will enjoy the tone and peacefulness
of their parents voice even if they do not
fully understand the story

• If you say you are going to do something - you must, ie - if you say "you must stop talking or I will have to finish" and they keep talking, quietly leave & be firm (perhaps give 1 chance the first time)
  If they get to know they can talk over you / get you to stay by screaming/crying it negates the authority you have in giving the visualisation.
  They must feel supported, loved, nurtured and know there is a reason for the rules (perhaps explain it is so THEY will get the best adventure out of the visualisation)
• The next morning, never negate their adventures or brush them aside (this will undo many of the positive benefits you have created), if you are really busy - explain so and set a time (ie- after school) when you will be free to hear all about it.
• I often found that although they didn't discuss their adventures, they had extremely beneficial outcomes and often weeks later would say something like, "yes, in my visualisation, my angel talked to me about a better way to speak/do that/etc"
• Congratulations - you are doing an excellent job as a parent, your child is now finding a space within themselves where they are able to solve their own problems/concerns (granted at this stage, they may believe it is their angel/fairy/talking tree/ etc - but that doesn't matter) - they are becoming self reliant to sort out their own concerns and find a space within where they can find comfort and solutions
• Guided visualisations can be done at any time, although I generally like to do them at bedtime. This assists the child to 'switch off', calm down after a busy day, release any tensions/worries they may otherwise be taking to bed and tossing and turning over. It also provides you (as a parent) the promise of something lovely - which often gets the little ones off to bed easily and assists to keep them there so you may have some quiet time to yourself at the end of your busy day also.
• Authors suggestions: We found that prior to the visualisations a spray of Renascent Emergency Essence and a tab of Renascent Sleep Balm really assisted to calm & produce deep, restful sleep.

Each visualisation has:

• Relaxation - to calm & centre
• A magic well - to release tensions & stress
• A bright light: the starlight / energy ball / light bubble - renewal of energies
• A guardian angel / guide - a sense of companionship & support
• A journey - to awaken the imagination (this is varied and you may choose your own depending on the situation the child is going through, often we make ours about friendships, speaking kindly, completing tasks & the many varied events in life the child may need guided direction in)

Happy children that are well rested cope better with life
and are able to problem solve for themselves

Now you understand the theory and why, join us in the "Guided Visualisations Starting Point" and follow on as we add more visualisations for you to share with your children.

Bobbity Rabbit

Bobbity Rabbit

On a cold hill in the little village of Warrandyte sat Bobbity Rabbit. His ears turned one way and then another, then back again listening intently for the sounds of the village.

His nose twitched with the smells of fireplaces warming cottages, mingled with the delicious smells of hot stews & soups the people made the night before.

Bobbity's mother was busy making porridge for breakfast, which gave Bobbity just enough time to pop out of his burrow & bathe in the morning sunlight.
He popped up on his hind legs and stretched his neck up looking over the valley, his legs felt the chill in the air, his nose twitching all the while.

Deciding it was safe, he set off with his little white tail - BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP.

It was this funny little hop that his mother had named him after.
You see, some rabbits ran and some hopped, others bobbed about and a few of the tiny ones scampered wildly, but Bobbity never did any of these.

In his own gentle way he just went ......... well........... BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP and so he was named "Bobbity Rabbit".

Bobbity loved the crisp morning air, he loved the mist rising over the river, the kookaburras waking up cackling and the cockatoos screeching overhead.

Across the valley he could hear a rooster singing cockadoodledoo & some hens next door cackling over their eggs.
Sniffing again, he could pick up the fresh wattle starting to fall and the eucalypt leaves on the tree.

Bobbity loved the tiny fresh flowers

He found a particularly delicious flower to nibble on & licked his lips over the sweet juicy petals.

But the thing that Bobbity loved most of all....... was the little girl that lived in the house.
Looking back to make sure his mother wasn't watching, up he went - BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP all the way out of the paddock and into the top garden.
He stood up high on his tippy toes and stretched his neck all the way up, he could just see into the room where the little girl played.

He had heard the big people who lived in the house call her "Emma", "hmmm, Emma! he thought to himself, what a pretty name for such a lovely little girl"

He loved to watch her dance, she spent a lot of time dancing, swirling around and dressing up in fancy clothes, singing and playing. Some times she came out into the garden and he peeped out around the grass to catch a glimpse of her.

His parents had told him, he must be very afraid of people as they were dangerous, especially in Warrandyte, but he was sure Emma would never hurt him. All the same, best to keep his distance and never get close enough to get caught - just in case.

Emma was already up playing with dolls and reading books, Bobbity hid behind the grass as she looked out of the window.

Bobbity Rabbit and Emma

Emma didn't see Bobbity hiding in the tall grass, but she smiled anyway as looked out into the sunlit morning and the birds flew overhead.

Bobbity loved her smile, it made him feel all warm and lovely inside.

BOBBITY, BOBBITY, BOBBITY his mother called "Porridge is ready"

Bobbity crouched down in the tall grass and took another peep at his lovely Emma, "see you soon" he thought to himself and with his little tail bobbing up in air, off he went - BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP, BOBBITY HOP, all the way back down the paddock into his warm burrow where a delicious bowl of porridge was waiting for him.

He looked down and smelt the lovely warm steam rising up out of the porridge and thought about Emma, his truly lovely little friend.

Bobbity hopped off down the path for breakfast

The conception of Once There Was A Story

Several years back, we found our children were having troubled sleep, they were tossing and turning, having nightmares & finding it difficult to drift off to peaceful sleep.

Emma pampering Lesley
with Pink Clay hand masks

We began doing visualisations every night with them and the results were dramatic:

• They drifted off easily to sleep
• They were happy to let us leave their room once done so they may complete their visualisations
• In the morning they were excited to share the things they had 'seen'
• They slept deeply & more peacefully
• Problems that were difficult to talk about we brought up in visualisations & allowed them to 'stick on their worry tree'
• They began sharing their concerns with us
• Many negative behaviours disappeared

After this, we would often be in the garden working and they would become side tracked or bored, we began telling them the names of every creature that lived in the garden and what they had been up to (yes, it took some pretty quick thinking some times).

They came to love the fables that lived in our garden & the magic that filled their lives.

All creatures are now well known by their names and discussed with any visitors as if it is completely general knowledge about the 'three wise men that live under the grass smoking their pipes'.
Any newcomer is promptly names and a story about his life made up, not only by us anymore.

We have been taken on fantastic journeys of the imagination & delight in the sense of belonging everywhere we travel - linked by fables and stories. Life is richer, fuller and more fun. Everyday problems are put into perspective and the stories have got us through many troublesome times.

Bedtimes stories are now often replaced by "please put the book away mummy and tell us one of 'our' stories".

Gabe + Mollie the guinea pig

Our son Gabe has begun his own fanciful stories & is inspired from history of stories through the ages (his take on life delves into the mysteries of the world and the depths of humans & their psyche)

Our daughter Emma, loves art and creating in all forms, inspired she began paintings & drawings of her favourite stories.

For about 2 years now she has begged me to write a book to share these stories with other children and illustrate them with her art.

We finally decided (after a computer crash lost all our stories) to start again and blog about them.

We hope you may print them out and take them to your children as bedtime stories. We would love to hear of how the bedtime visualisations worked for you and your children and the changes that take place for them.

We have set ourselves a goal of 50 stories within the year.

We look forward to sharing them with you & hope they enrich your childrens lives.............

http://www.renascentcollege.com/