Ammi’s Adventures: A 4-Minute Grounding Meditation for Kids

This engaging meditation uses the energy and imagery of a seed to foster inner connection and emotional regulation. Follow the guided practice and join your child on a mindful adventure.

By Heather Hawk Feinberg
February 7, 2022
Kids

Welcome to the world of Ammi—a mindfulness adventure series for young children. Ammi is a wise and gentle child who leads the way as we explore ourselves and one another through the natural world. Each story uses guided imagery to inspire inner connection and support emotional regulation. These simple meditations recognize the importance of imagination as a foundation for conscious creation in the world. They bridge the physical, the energetic, the emotional, and all the spaces in between. Whether in the home or classroom, you can engage in these special practices with children of all ages. Read them aloud together, listen to the guided meditation, and welcome the time to process and integrate the practice.

Ammi’s Adventures: Seeds

Hi! I’m Ammi. My name means “the whole world is inside of me,” and I think it’s true: I carry the whole world in my mind and heart and body. I know you do, too! I like to play games, explore, and discover what makes me, me. I’m so glad we’re together on this journey!

Have you ever held a seed in your hand? Some are so tiny we can barely see them with our eyes, and others are so big they fill our whole palm. When you look at a seed, it’s hard to see or even imagine what it will become. That seed has to go through seasons and cycles in order to transform into a new version of itself.

Do you know the seasons of a seed?

First is winter. Dark under the earth, in a blanket of dirt, the seed is still. It needs quiet and calm. From the outside it might not look like anything is happening, but inside something is changing. It is preparing, waiting, to emerge. Then there is an opening. The seed sprouts, breaking free from its old form and it is new, inside and out. Now the seed needs time. It rests and it grows. Becoming is hard work. But this is what the seed was made for.

Next is spring. The sprout gathers enough strength to burst forth from beneath the earth and is greeted by the light. The sprout will now soak in the sun and be fed by the rain. And it will keep growing and changing. Always new.

Then summer follows. The sprout’s roots grow stronger and deeper into the earth. It is full and it is time to blossom. Blossoming is the time for the seed to express itself. The seed changed to a sprout, and now it is a flower, or a plant, or a tree, or an apple. It is doing what it came here to do. This change may last for a long time or a short time, or anywhere in between.

Autumn comes next and brings more change. It is time to shed. Petals and seeds fall to the ground and scatter. Fruit is eaten by animals. Trees shed their leaves and stand bare. Change means letting go. This part must happen for the cycle to start over. Something ends and something new begins. It’s a circle that keeps repeating. Stillness, opening, blossoming, shedding. On and on and on.

We are like seeds, too. We have that same circle of life within us. We hold the seeds of all that we are, all we have ever been, and all that we will become, inside us. We are here to nurture those seeds, to care for them, to give them what they need so they can be still, open, blossom, and shed. It takes time to learn how to care for our seeds.

Let’s practice being seeds together!

A 4-Minute Grounding Meditation for Kids

Seeds: A Guided Meditation for Kids

4:17

Find a place where you feel comfortable to close your eyes and be still. Take a few breaths in and out, so you can notice your whole body. The top of your head. The tips of your toes. Listen for your heart beating inside your chest. Can you feel it? Now imagine a clear form all around your body, the outer layer of your seed. And there you are, snuggled inside, held, breathing in and out, your heart beat grounding you. You are quiet and calm. This is winter.
Slowly, something is stirring deep inside. You are opening. Your heart, your belly, your core all expand, and new energy is emerging. You are sprouting. This new movement within you reaches upward toward the light. Feel the sun beaming its brilliant light on you, and the rain showering you with love. On your own time, you will grow, inch by inch, cell by cell. You have all you need. This is spring.
You are growing stronger. Feel your roots extend farther into the earth, solid and secure. Your body and head grow longer, taller, reaching. You are expanding in all ways, from the inside out. There is downward movement and upward movement and it doesn’t stop. You are bursting with life. Blossoming, you unfurl and turn your face to the sun. The fullest expression of you. This is summer.
Slowly, the light begins to fade, and you slow down again. It’s time to shed. As the old drops away, you feel lighter. Let go of all that you no longer need. Gently shake your body and wipe it gently with your hands to welcome the release. When things end, there is space for beginnings. This is fall, the whisper of promises to come.
Find your breath again. In and out. Find your heart beat again, and breathe with your heart. Find the outer layer of your seed once again. Rest into the rich stillness, back into the possibility of all that will be. The beginning of the circle. One of many, many, many cycles you will go through.
You are a seed. You are in a constant state of growth, changing and transforming and becoming, over and over again. Sometimes you need stillness, sometimes you need to open, sometimes you need to blossom, and other times you need to shed. Trust yourself to know what you need. You are responsible for your seeds. You must see them bloom. Grow, seeds, grow!

Love, from your friend, Ammi.