Many parents struggle when it comes to introducing their children to spirituality. If you are not a particularly religious person, you may wonder whether you need to discuss this topic with your kids. While it may not be a big part of your life, it can be helpful to introduce children to the spiritual side of existence early on. There are several simple ways you can achieve this without feeling like you are compromising your own beliefs or forcing your point of view on your little ones. Consider these suggestions to get started.
Discuss Your Beliefs
While you may not want to push your beliefs on your children, there is nothing wrong with discussing what you believe and why. According to many studies, a majority of people wind up following the religion of their parents. It is hard to deny the influence a mother or father has over their little ones, so you may also want to talk about other religions and spiritual perspectives to introduce a number of other options to your kids from an early age.
No One Has All the Answers
An easy trap for parents to fall into is thinking they have all the answers. When a child comes to you to talk about death, for example, you may feel like you can simply make up some story until he or she is older. Unfortunately, this is an easy way to distort the way your children think about death and can even give them undue anxiety about the future. When you find yourself struggling to answer deep questions in a satisfying way, there is nothing wrong with reaching out to people who may be able to offer more guidance.
Speak with religious officials within your own community like priests, pastors, or rabbis. Providing a number of different perspectives on death and the journey of the soul may be able to offer your little one a bit of comfort or clarity on the matter. This can be applied to any spiritual topic you may not have the answers to. In fact, you may even learn a few interesting tidbits along the way to apply to your own lifestyle. By admitting you don’t know everything, you are imparting the knowledge that it is okay to ask for help.
Practice and Play
Religion and spirituality may play a big part in the lives of adults, but most children are going to find the topics dull. There’s not much for young ones to be excited about when it comes to ancient rituals and deep thoughts on existence. Still, there are fun ways to play with spirituality. Yoga may be viewed as an exercise in many Western nations, but its core is all about the spirit. Take your kids to a yoga class centered around education, and you can teach them to have fun while engaging in spiritual practices.
Create Traditions
Tradition plays an integral part in religion. When you aren’t a very spiritual person, you may feel like you don’t engage in any rituals for your children to follow. Now is a great time to start making traditions together. The holidays are perfect for this. Create a specific routine that you follow each year, and it will soon become ingrained in the hearts of your children as a comforting and familiar annual practice. No matter what holidays you celebrate in the winter, creating new traditions can establish a spiritual foundation and enforce the importance of ritual.
Teaching your children about religion and spirituality does not have to be an insurmountable task. If this is an important conversation to have with your family, research your options. Exploring different ideas can be invaluable for discovering the perfect way to educate your little ones.
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