The family of seven who meditates
The family of seven, all of whom meditate, at the Mago retreat centre in Sedona, Arizona.
In May I attended a Vedic Meditation retreat in Sedona, Arizona, and met an entire family who meditates. Meeting a couple of family members practising meditation is not unusual, but a family of seven? It was a first for me. What was even more surprising was that all seven were on the retreat. It’s one thing to meditate, it’s another to take a family vacation expressly for the purpose of meditating.
I met the family on the retreat’s third day and was keen to hear what their experience was like. They were happy to talk to me and have their picture taken but they asked that I not use their names.
The kids I spoke to, who were aged between 21 and 17, said they were having a great time despite giving up social media over the retreat’s five days. One of the four daughters, 17, said she’d barely thought about checking her phone. She’d learned to meditate six weeks before the retreat started and said she was noticing big differences in her life already. You can hear more from her in the video below.
17-year-old Jamy, not her real name, says stress is a real factor in her life and meditation is reducing her anxiety.
The son, 21, said he’d been meditating for 18 months and the key differences in his life was that he was calmer and happier.
As meditation grows in popularity increasing numbers of families are meditating together. It’s a great trend. If the culture inside a family supports meditation then it helps sustains each member’s practice.
Young people, even small children, can learn to meditate. Children are given a different technique than teenagers and adults. Teenagers meditate one minute for every year of their life. So for example 15 year-olds meditates for 15 minutes. Once they have reached 20 years-old they meditate for the same time as adults - 20 minutes twice a day. Some teenagers who’ve been meditating for a while may meditate for 20 minutes but as a rule of thumb the one minute for a year of your life is the case up until the age of 20.
The mountains adjacent to the Mago retreat centre, Sedona, Arizona.