Thoughts on children trying Lifeflow?

Cloudstructure · May 7th, 2011, 00:14

Hello all, i'm new here, nice to 'meet' you all..
My son who is eleven, is interested in listening to Lifeflow 10. Would this be advisable? He's quite a curious and creative little guy, with bags of energy, but also a few anxiety issues (like his mum actually). I can't imagine he would be able to sit still and listen for even 5 minutes actually, let alone get into it and start meditating, but i thought i'd ask your opinions on kids and lifeflow in general. Would it be harmful in any way for him to have a listen?

Hazelkay · May 8th, 2011, 18:30

Welcome to the forum!

If your son cannot sit still for ten minutes at a time, then listening to Lifeflow will not help. Entrainment takes at least 8 minutes for beginners.

I'm not sure I would let my child use entrainment when first starting to learn to meditate - but others may have more experience than me. Letting him listen to the track for a very few minutes would satisfy his curiosity and do no harm.

Encouraging him to meditate is great and if he would like something to listen to there are plenty of cd's with water sounds, forest sounds, calming music etc.

I would start with a few minutes only, just observing his breath with his eyes closed. Liken it to someone standing at a gate checking off everyone coming in or out - he watches his breath coming in and out, trying not to miss one. It's fine if he does, remind him if he gets into thinking or daydreaming to go back to the breath as soon as he realises. 5 minutes is enough for the first session. Add 1 minute per session till you reach 10 and keep it at that for a while.

To make it more special - get him a special cushion to sit on and something like a shawl to put round himself and try to make it at the same time each day.

Discuss his experience with him and share yours at the end of the session.

Have fun together and keep us posted on how you are both doing.
peace and joy

M L K · May 9th, 2011, 04:13

Hi, Cloudstructure -- what an interesting name. Welcome to the forum. Just wanted to mention that a number of people on this forum have reported using the LifeFlow cds (at least those in the beginning Alpha range) with their children as background sounds while they take naps, read or do homework, etc. The entrainment doesn't happen as effectively as listening to LF while meditating, but beneficial effects have been reported. Would be very interesting to see if this ambient usage helped bring down your son's anxiety level. Please keep us posted. All the best, Margaret

GilesC · May 9th, 2011, 14:57

Originally Posted by Hazelkay

If your son cannot sit still for ten minutes at a time, then listening to Lifeflow will not help. Entrainment takes at least 8 minutes for beginners.

Actually, as long as it's playing in the background while he does other stuff, it will still be of benefit. Yes, it takes time for the entrainment to take effect, and without headphones the binaural beats won't be effective, but the monaural and isochronic tones will still work, and may even help to calm him a little.

I'm not sure I would let my child use entrainment when first starting to learn to meditate - but others may have more experience than me. Letting him listen to the track for a very few minutes would satisfy his curiosity and do no harm.

As mentioned, there are other people on these forums who have used lifeflow tracks with their children and have found great benefit from them. If anything the benefits should work more quickly as a childs brain hasn't had time to build up all the mixture of reinforced neural pathways that an adult has.

There's certainly no harm in using them with children from what I'm aware of.

Hugs

Giles

pollyanna · May 9th, 2011, 15:56

Here are a couple of links about the benefits of entrainment and how particular tracks are really useful in a variety of situations:-

Do I have to meditate to get results?

Schumann Resonance - The Health Benefits

My 9 year old grandson and 7 year old grandaughter go to sleep listening to the delta tracks. They have been doing this for at least three years now. My daughter plays Optimal Learning or Creative Flow for them during homework time. They don't need to use headphones because of the technology incorporated in LifeFlow.

Classical Magic plays in the background when we sit down to dinner.

There are so many electronic games these days for children and I feel it's wonderful to be able to help protect them from EMF pollution, boost their immune system naturally and create more balance and calming moments in their lives.

I hope this helps and wish you much peace and joy

Cloudstructure · May 10th, 2011, 16:56

Thank you all for your replies. Its good to do know it wouldn't do him any harm - that was my concern. Nor is my intention to try and 'make' him listen in order to get him to sit still or anything - he was just really curious. He doesnt have any issues like ADD or anything that i'm trying to solve
I let him have a listen - it was quite funny actually - he lay there smirking and giggling and 'deep breathing' really loudly. He did say 'its cool mum, nice and relaxing'.

As for ambient usage to try and bring down his anxiety, or perhaps for homework time, that's very interesting. We will give it a try and let you know how things go!