Yoga Nidra and Emotional Resilience in Children

Sep 07, 2023

Emotions are what make us human. Some are preferred and some aren’t, but they all belong. Emotions are often equated to water. One day you’re surfing a wave of joy, the next you’re being pulled down by the undertow of grief. Sometimes you’re floating along on a cool, quiet river of contentment. Sometimes you’re paddling through white water.

Emotions are also like messengers. They pair with a physical sensation in the body – how cool is that? – and help us navigate the world within and without. Think of all the dings and whistles you get from your phone every day. Emotions send us push notifications too.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize and work with emotions, both your own and others. Emotional resilience is the capacity to experience an emotion and be able to return to a state of balance afterwards - to flow with changing states of emotion rather than being caught up in them.

Habituation. It means getting used to something. When you first walk into a room you may be overpowered by a strong smell. But after some time, you don’t seem to smell it anymore. The smell is still there but your brain tunes it out. Just like that car alarm down the street. When your brain detects nothing needs to be done, it disengages.

Guess what? You can do the same with strong emotions. Your emotions and habituation go hand in hand. So, next time you feel an intense emotion, try this...

Imagine that conditioned thoughts are like sticky duct tape holding that emotion in place. That emotion stays stuck in you fastened by repeated thoughts about it and the situation that’s causing it.

Now, here comes the cool part. Instead of sticking to those thoughts, picture yourself as a big water fountain. Let those feelings wash through you, like water flowing effortlessly. Everything is changing and when you can let it be, it will spontaneously move through you.

The practice of Yoga Nidra is a practice of learning to be with all the emotions and sensations that are a part of you, but not who you are. You’re learning to be with what is, as it is. This is a profound key to unlock joy and contentment in your life. And yes, we can get started in childhood.

It’s a practice of staying with something – a body sensation, a thought, an emotion – without an agenda. This allows for the natural evolution to occur. It allows you to “get used to it” in a good way. 

We used to live by an international airport. One day, a friend from Ely, MN visited. Ely is a small town near the Boundary Waters on the Canadian border. We were playing basketball outside in my driveway when she suddenly exclaimed, “What’s that!?” I looked at her puzzled and then she said it again. “Oh!” I realized. Huge planes were flying low over our house, but I had habituated to it and didn’t even notice. She had never heard a plane that close before and it rumbled through her whole body. Same sound, very different experience.

It shows the subjective nature of each person’s reality. If you want to change the world, change how you perceive and interact with it.

Teaching yoga nidra to children is teaching them to become masters of their emotions. Emotional intelligence has been shown to be a stronger indicator of a good quality of life than cognitive intelligence.

If the idea of teaching yoga nidra to children intrigues you, check out our online course.