Teaching Kids Meditation: Review of Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee MacLean

Moody Cow Meditates is a great tool to use to teach children to learn not only how to deal with anger but also to meditate.

If you do meditate or if you’ve read much about it, you know that the benefits of meditation are immense and reveal themselves after the actual periods of meditation.

With today’s sometimes busy and chaotic world, it’s vital for children to get the proper tools to “decompress” at an early age. These are the kinds of tools they will nurture and use for a lifetime.

Simple and Beautiful Story

Moody Cow Meditates (Wisdom Publications) is an amazing, yet simplistically beautiful story that teaches children (and caregivers) how to meditate.

If you’ve ever wanted to get a child in your life to learn better ways to handle stress, anger, pressure, or any other emotional challenges, or if you’ve always wanted to teach them to meditate, this book offers an opportunity to subtly yet effectively promote healthy meditation.

There’s no better teacher than author Kerry Lee MacLean. As a mother to five and children’s meditation teacher, MacLean captures exactly how to effectively teach children to meditate in Moody Cow Meditates (as well as Peaceful Piggy Meditation and The Family Meditation Book).

Meet Moody Cow, aka Peter

The story of Moody Cow, formerly known as Peter, is one that any family with more than one child can easily grasp. The book begins with challenges for Moody Cow. Ever wake up in “one of those moods?” Well, not only does Moody Cow start off on the wrong foot, the events of the morning continue to present challenges for Moody Cow.

From his sister destroying (or you could also say decorating) his brand new skateboard, to having to ride his bike to school in the snow, Moody Cow has simply had enough! When he comes home from school covered in bumps and bruises he simply can no longer contain his anger and . . . well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out what happens, but let me tell you it isn’t pretty!

As Moody Cow endures his own bad mood, his sister’s taunts, and his punishments, he comes to learn to use an amazing tool to quiet his anger, re-focus his day, and move on for a better, more peaceful, and happier day.

The illustrations are simple and beautiful bringing life to the story. In fact, they make you feel like they were just drawn minutes before for you the reader!

Practical Meditation Techniques

I love the way MacLean shows grandfather cow using real life tools to teach Moody to meditate. The method used in Moody Cow Meditates is one that you can immediately use at home with your own kids. These are effective and simple techniques that transform your child’s anger and frustrations into manageable emotions that simply need a bit of time and quiet to dissipate.

If you know a child, they can use this book. With the enormous pressures on children these days teaching meditation at an early age is a very worthwhile pursuit. The sooner the better.  Moody Cow Meditates makes it easy to do!

What We Need, the Universe Gives

I’m a true believer that the universe puts in front of us what we need to deal with on a daily basis; the challenges of each day are for an important reason. I also know that the universe doesn’t just give us the challenges with no support. Moody Cow Meditates is a perfect example of this synergy.

This morning one of my children woke up much like Moody Cow does in the story, “on the wrong side of the bed.” This bad mood was quickly followed by torments and arguments with one of her siblings. Yes, things went from bad to worse quickly for her. Despite her best efforts she gave into her angry feelings and acted out.

As I contemplated how to teach her to handle things differently, I decided (while in my meditations) that she was now old enough to learn to meditate to help calm her emotions and today would be the day to begin. Ironically enough, the book for me to review today was Moody Cow Meditates. I will be reading it again and again to my children and using the exact tools so helpfully provided within the pages of this witty book to help my children to also learn how to calm their anger.

Thanks Kerry Lee MacLean and Moody Cow. This is surely a lesson we all can benefit from learning and practicing.

To read more reviews visit Amazon > Moody Cow Meditates