Kids’ Dolphin Breath Meditation
In this guided meditation, your child will use the dolphin breath combined with fun, relaxing imagery to cultivate stillness.
Dolphins are fascinating to people of all ages – but especially kids. They’re also lovely metaphors for life. Dolphins show us how to express joy, be part of a supportive community, go with the flow, and feel our emotions.
And did you know… When a dolphin is hurt, its friends gather around to help it breathe by bringing it to the surface of the water.
Read this script through to yourself beforehand to get a feel for the pacing. Make sure your child is in a comfortable space. If they have trouble settling, spend more time on the initial relaxation or try some of these somatic exercises designed for kids.
Dolphin Breath Meditation
Settle in and get comfy. We’re going to learn a new breathing technique to help us cultivate stillness within.
Close your eyes and take in a deep breath. Then let it out and feel your body relax.
With each breath, feel your chest and belly expand and then release as you get more calm and still.
Now imagine before you the vast, deep ocean. The water is vibrant turquoise, and the waves are lapping at the sand as you dig in and scrunch your toes.
The sand feels nice on your bare feet. You walk slowly toward the ocean and – knowing it’s perfectly safe – you decide to dive in.
Something magical happens as the warm water safely and gently surrounds you. Your body turns into a beautiful, sleek dolphin. Somehow you are not even surprised at this. Your skin is smooth. Your body is muscular and strong.
You find it amazingly easy to swim anywhere fast or slow. This water is home. You playfully jump out of the water into the air and then happily dive back in. There are other friendly dolphins around you that love to swim and jump alongside you.
As part of your dolphin body, you have a blowhole at the top of your head to breathe oxygen. From under the water, you push up through the surface, exhale warm air forcibly out and take in a deep breath into the blow hole.
Feel the air flow deep into your lungs and belly. Let’s stay near the surface a bit and do more dolphin breathing to get the hang of it.
Blow out forcibly again through your blowhole and inhale deeply once more and fill up your entire body with fresh, wonderful oxygen. Let the oxygen flow everywhere in your dolphin body. It feels good and maybe even tingly.
Continue breathing in this way, imagining the air traveling deep down into your body and circulating everywhere. Then visualize the air moving back up and out through your blowhole. Just concentrate now on breathing these dolphin breaths for five more breaths.
You’re doing a great job. Deep, deep breath in, and fully exhaling out all of the air.
Now simply float and rest, breathing normally. Feel how wonderful it feels to float here in the warm, relaxing water and experience the stillness all around you. The ocean is very gentle. It cradles you and rocks you gently in its arms.
With your eyes closed, just concentrate now on that stillness and calm inside your own body. This stillness will help you find calm no matter what is happening in life around you. This sense of calm is here whenever you need it.
The more we practice tapping into the stillness, the easier it is to experience it anytime we need to calm ourselves and feel connected to the peace within.
You’ve done a wonderful job learning the dolphin breath for stillness today. When you’re ready, you can open your eyes and give your human body a nice, big stretch.
Stillness resides deep within us as a natural state of our being, our true self. It lives in the quiet space inside our very own hearts, and we can access it at any time.
More Deep Breathing Meditations
Thousands of parents, teachers, and counselors use these meditations with their children and students. Here are a few others your child might enjoy:
Figure 8 Breathing Meditation for Kids
Deep Breathing Exercise
Body Scan for Kids
The Peaceful Butterfly
The Mindfulness Cabin (includes an adorable free printable)
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