Ujjayi

First, I'm going to start with this data.  

Next, I'm going to say this: LET CHILDREN BE CHILDREN.

When I was a child, I got bored.  I'm an adult now and sometimes I feel I have nothing to do, but look around and realize I have endless things to do. These things are like dishes, laundry, scrubbing a toilet; things I don't necessarily want to do, but have no choice. I wish I could be bored. I wish I could lie down and literally think nothing. I realized today, I was anxious because I have to go grocery shopping, which meant spending money. Then when I return, I have to put it all away. I still need to do four loads of laundry, wash the dishes, mop my floors. When am I supposed to be able to breathe? 

The reason we can't just sit is because we are now taught, starting as a tiny toddler, that we are entitled to instant gratification. You're bored so you throw a tantrum and what does mommy do? She shoves an iPad, iPhone, something digital in your face, with its flashing lights and endless entertainment. If you get bored, you go to another app or another YouTube video.  There is no reason to sit and actually fight through your boredom because the options are endless. The problem with this thinking for children is when they have to go to the classroom and suddenly are expected to sit still for 6 hours listening to the same person.  They are forced to concentrate on the topic for as long as the lecture is to be, not for as long as they want to pay attention.  Then, parents take their child to a child development "specialist" who in turn tells them "Your child has ADD [or ADHD]," and gives them a prescription for Ritalin or Adderall. 

We are creating a monster.  First, there's nothing wrong with your child, and if there is, it's because of your lack of wanting to take time to be a parent.  Stop handing them an iPad and expecting it to be the caretaker while you endlessly scroll through Facebook so you don't have to hear them whine, or much less, pay attention to them.  Put a book in their hand, or those donut shaped rings that stack.  Let your child learn things on their own in a physical sense, not through a screen.  

If they're bored? Let them be bored. Teach them to meditate.  Teach them they don't have to be stimulated every second of every day.  This will let them learn how to be calm and not have endless thoughts which lead to anxiety, depression, panic attacks and more.  These things are also on the rise and we only did it to ourselves, not realizing in the late 90s, early 2000s when we stayed on AOL for hours upon hours only to have MySpace and finally, Facebook to follow.  Ever notice how you can look at the clock and then "minutes later", you've been on Facebook for 3 hours? This is what I'm talking about. Yes, we zone out, but only momentarily and we waste a lot of time, which leads to our responsibilities getting ignored and then causes us to feel dread or anxiety from the consequences of our own actions.

I'm not even sure how this blog got written because the only thing I was thinking when I was going to write it was that I wish I could be bored and I wish I could think about nothing.