How Old Do You Have To Be To Meditate?

Some that stumble upon meditation at an early age wonder if it’s too early to start the practice. Fortunately, meditation is accessible to anyone, but there’s a benefit to adopting the practice when someone is as young as 4 years old. 

By default, when we are young, we don’t tend to worry about what’s about to come in our day-to-day life, it’s later when we learn the concept of worry that it turns against us. 

Of course, worry can still be present as a child but we’re at the very least more present than we usually are in let’s say our teenage years or adulthood. 

So there are lots of things we can learn from our younger selves and apply to our daily life, such as an increased ability to learn, something that becomes easier to do when distractions aren’t present. The changes you adopt now are changes your future self will thank you for. 

Many have, instead, a tendency to make it harder for their future selves by making poor choices that only feel good for a moment, but deep down we know these choices aren’t beneficial. 

In contrast, if you adopt meditation at an early age, it’s easier to pick up the practice later on, since you already have a notion of what meditation feels like. The benefits of meditation can last for a lifetime. But that tends to be more the case if we practice consistently. 

Personally, I started to meditate with my mom at the age of 14 and can confirm, almost a decade later, that I’m more mindful about my reactions, and thus, I’m less affected by an emotional response, even if I’m still human and everything isn’t sunshine and rainbows. 

The Earlier We Meditate, The Better For Our Future Selves

Aside from the habit being easier to pick up when we’re a child, much like learning is easier when we’re a child, if we meditate, we predispose our lives to a good start. 

And we become better at managing our emotions. In addition, it’s also easier to introduce positive subconscious programming in the mind. The more ingrained a negative belief system is in us, the harder it is to change. 

It’s usually between the ages of 0 to 7 when we start to form our belief systems. If we intercept this process through meditation during this period, life becomes easier. Meditation helps you to be at peace with yourself and perform better at anything you do. 

If you’re a child who meditates, you may be able to enhance your learning abilities and grow an interest in various subjects. 

In turn, things may come easier to you and where you once struggled, you now thrive with ease and give them an easier time when doing homework or improving their attention span. 

Less Mental Resistance

When you’re a child, you’re unlikely to be presented with the same mental resistance you’d experience if you were to try meditation later on. 

By the time many people start meditating, they’ve already experienced a handful of sad events or memories they may wish to turn away from. That’s not to say you can’t experience this as a child or that you’re less prone to it. 

But if we’re looking at something like readiness to handle our emotions or be less affected by stress, meditation comes in handy. 

Children may also have an easier time sleeping better with meditation, and may even have an easier time becoming conscious, and considering their imagination is so active, they may be able to pick up the habit of lucid dreaming easier, as a bonus. 

Because meditation is so widely available, there’s no reason not to engage in the practice, regardless of age or gender, unless someone has a condition where meditation would make it worse. Even if I personally didn’t meditate before my teens, I could still see a boost in my overall academic performance. 

The fewer worries you have in your life, however, the easier it will be to direct the attention to meditation, as we’re supposed to when meditation, and thus, expand that environment where we lack worry, but inwards. 

The beauty of meditation is that it doesn’t rely on anything external, and you can create your own inner world of peace. 

Where you reach a point where almost independently of what’s happening in your everyday life, your peace remains intact. In fact, this is a trait that’s commonly seen in Buddhist monks. 

There are some exceptions to teaching children meditation, however. Since children may not always understand the concept of mindfulness. 

With that in mind, starting meditation at the age of 7 is also a good start, even if we’ve already formed our belief system. 

Another benefit of children meditating at a young age is that it can increase their confidence in themselves, something many adults struggle with. The earlier this is integrated into our lives, the more it would reflect in adulthood. 

Too many would give up on their dreams after being told it’s unrealistic and that’s because they start believing them themselves, so meditation provides protection for that.

Which Type of Children Should Stay Away From Meditation?

Those who show clear aggression and resistance to meditation, shouldn’t be forced into it, especially those who show a negative predisposition to the practice. It will usually result in more effort without necessarily yielding good results. 

Whereas a child that doesn’t show a predisposition to meditation and approaches things with curiosity will have an easier time picking up meditation and will likely benefit more. For instance, gifted children. 

If they are first introduced to the concept of mindfulness, it would make it easier for them to pick up on meditation as it’d come more naturally, rather than sitting there and seeing no purpose. 

It’s important to never dissuade a child from questioning, as it helps them develop and boost their creativity, logical thinking, and grow interest in learning. Creativity can amplify if it’s given an environment to thrive, as it’s the case with meditation. 

With meditation, consistency is what matters the most, so if a child shows and makes an effort to stay away from the meditation, the practice won’t bring any benefits to them. 

It’s better to put that effort into children that embrace the idea of mindfulness and meditation, and even take the initiative to try meditation out of curiosity. 

There aren’t any wrong reasons to start meditation, what matters is sticking with it through the long haul. In this case, curiosity can pave the path. 

There are also those that present strong anger issues, where meditation isn’t likely to solve much, but instead, another type of professional would be needed in such cases, such as a psychologist. 

Meditation can be a deep experience and can bring out any side of ourselves, no matter where we are agewise. Therefore, it’s important to be wary about any conditions and psychological states pre-meditation. 

Never Too Late To Start

While there’s a benefit to starting meditation when you’re very young, it’s never too late to start, since you can pick up meditation at any stage in your life, but it may be easier or harder depending on what you have in your subconscious and conscious mind. 

Fortunately, meditation can serve as a retreat and relax the mind and body to make the practice appealing enough to continue, regardless of age. 

As long as you have discipline, something that can be compared to a muscle you can train, to begin with, you will be ahead of anyone else lacking it when meditating. 

However, there is no shame in having difficulties with meditation. Anyone can struggle to pick up the practice, either because it brings out a dark side of us or other factors that get in the way. 

But for the purposes of minimizing these obstacles, it can be more optimal to pick up the practice early.