a simple loop-based meditation for children

[Douglas Baldwin <coyotelk@optonline.net>]

My wife is a social worker/counsellor by profession, and we've been playing
with the idea of making a recording/book for children on how to relax and
deal with tension/anger-causing events. Our son is in the first grade, and
on Tuesday she and I went to his class and preformed a half-hour
meditation/relaxation workshop. She read and led the kids through a
relaxation meditation, and I played gentle looped music in the background.
It was a wonderful success. The teached loved it, and the kids were giving
my wife hugs and thanking us for the experience. My rig? A 335-style guitar
(though any electric will do for me), an Akai Headrush, and a 15-watt 
Fender
Bronco amp on about "three." It was a fine meditation for me, too: I chose 
a
simple chord progression (C major/G major/A minor/F major) and gave each
chord four beats at a tempo of about 60 beats per minute. I "played" the
progression in my mind, then set the length of the Headrush accordingly
using the delay mode with maximum feedback (one tap to start the length, 
one
tap to end). While my wife introduced the work (discussing what causes
tension and fear, how it feels in the body, and how we can conquer the
feeling by relaxing and meditating on positive things), I held the tempo 
and
progression in my mind. I kept myself in sync with the Headrush's LED for
the first of the sixteen beats. Then, as she began the meditation proper, I
began the music, layering one note at a time through the progression. A
great joy, and absolute minimal gear.
Douglas Baldwin, coyote-at-large
coyotelk@optonline.net