• Home
  • About
    • What We’re About
    • LGBTQ+ Affirmation
    • Who's Who
    • Our Partners
  • Sundays
    • What to Expect
    • Kids, Youth, & Families
    • Listen to a Sermon
    • Sunday Service Music
  • Connect
    • Get Plugged In
    • Upcoming Events
    • Groups & Gatherings
    • Get In Touch With Us
    • Join a Sunday Team
  • OUR BLOGS
    • The River Blog
    • Families Blog
    • Resource of the Week
  • "40 Days of Faith" Guide
  • Give

River Families Blog

Calming Spiritual Exercise for Children: Finger Labyrinth

4/20/2018

 
By Caroline Park
Picture
Last Sunday at the Elementary School Group, we introduced a new spiritual exercise called Labyrinth. The short exercise seemed to have such a positive effect--calming and de-stressing--that I wanted to tell you guys about it.

First we shared the story, “The Road to Emmaus.” In the story, two disciples of Jesus were walking away from Jerusalem to Emmaus, on the first Easter Sunday, despite having heard about the empty tomb. Along the way, Jesus appeared, walked and talked with them, eventually leading the disciples back to Jerusalem where they were to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Jesus walks and talks with us here and now, too. All spiritual exercises are in essence the practice of noticing and connecting with this reality. One such exercise is the labyrinth. A labyrinth is a single
meandering path leading to a center.

This is what we did. Everyone got a copy of a labyrinth. We "walked" the labyrinth by slowly tracing the path with our non-dominant hands, remembering Jesus walking with us. I encouraged the kids to pause when they reached the center to stay with Jesus a bit, to interact with him if they’d like. The effect was noticeable. I could feel everyone’s bodies relaxing; the whole room felt calmer and more peaceful. I felt more centered and less stressed.


I recommend trying it at home. Here are some sample labyrinths if you are interested. Print one out and "walk" the path alone when you are feeling stressed or with your kids when they are experiencing anxiety over something. And let me know how it goes!

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    March 2024
    October 2023
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    July 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    riverkids/youth

    Click here for more information about the RiverKids and RiverYouth programs!

River NYC
15 W. 39th Street
9th Floor
New York, NY 10018 ​|  Google Map
[email protected]
Social Media
River NYC App
​​iOS  |  Android
​
Learn more about what's happening at the River.
Join our weekly email list!
Subscribe

Copyright © 2024 River NYC. All rights reserved.  |  Site by SOUND 5
  • Home
  • About
    • What We’re About
    • LGBTQ+ Affirmation
    • Who's Who
    • Our Partners
  • Sundays
    • What to Expect
    • Kids, Youth, & Families
    • Listen to a Sermon
    • Sunday Service Music
  • Connect
    • Get Plugged In
    • Upcoming Events
    • Groups & Gatherings
    • Get In Touch With Us
    • Join a Sunday Team
  • OUR BLOGS
    • The River Blog
    • Families Blog
    • Resource of the Week
  • "40 Days of Faith" Guide
  • Give