“Don’t worry Rajan. I will help you with that math problem.” These were the comforting words of Tia, a 10-year-old girl, when she noticed her housemaid’s son struggling with a math problem. She could sense his feelings, the reason for his sadness, cared for his success and comforted and offered to help him. Children like Tia are in tune with the emotions and needs of others, i.e., they are intuitive and show compassion.
As parents, we want our children to grow up to be kind human beings. Intuition can play a significant role in raising compassionate kids. Intuition is the ability to understand something without the need for conscious reasoning. When we cultivate intuition in our children, we help them become more empathetic and sensitive to others’ needs, leading to a kinder and more compassionate world.
Mrs. Jalpa Mehta observed a huge change in her daughter after she practiced The Art of Living - Intuition Process. She shares her observations in the video, “Raising kind and compassionate kids”.
What is intuition?
Intuition is an innate ability that humans possess to perceive and understand things without conscious reasoning. It is a feeling that arises from our subconscious mind. Intuitive individuals can perceive and understand others’ feelings and emotions, helping us to connect with others, and leading to more profound and meaningful relationships.
What are the benefits of intuition for kids?
1. Improved communication
Intuition can help children understand the emotions of others better and therefore communicate more effectively. They will be able to pick up on nonverbal cues and understand what someone is really trying to say.
2. Enhanced relationships
When children can sense the emotions of others, they become more empathetic. This can lead to a stronger and more meaningful relationship.
3. Increased emotional intelligence
Intuition helps kids develop emotional intelligence, which is recognizing, understanding, and managing emotions.
4. Better decision-making
Intuition allows children to take into account the feelings and experiences of others while making decisions. This can help them make more informed and compassionate choices.
5. Increased creativity
Intuition can inspire creativity as children use their intuition to understand others’ requirements.
How to cultivate intuition in kids
Parents can help children develop kindness and compassion by cultivating their intuition in these ways.
Meditation
Meditation can help develop intuition in kids. Encourage them to meditate regularly to enhance their ability to understand and connect with others’ thoughts and emotions.
Storytelling
Storytelling and open-ended questions can help develop benevolence through intuition. Asking your kids things relating to the incidents and people in a story makes children think from others’ points of view in real life. For eg., in the story, when Harsha’s painting is criticized, asking “How did Harsha feel?” helps children relate to the story’s emotions, and can make them intuitive in the long run about others' problems and feelings in the real world.
Not being judgmental
Encouraging children to follow their intuition without being judgmental fosters benevolence. For instance, a child who listens to a friend’s woes, trusts his intuition to offer the right support without judgment, making him display compassion for his friends or others.
Role-playing
Role-playing encourages kids to develop intuition, problem-solving skills and gentleness by making them part of an imaginary world, playing the given role. For example, if the child, while role-playing, owns a coffee shop, and a customer accidentally spills the coffee on the floor, then how would the child as an owner feel? Would he feel compassionate? Intuitive power in the real world would enable the ‘coffee owner’ to understand the inner state of the customer which could have led to the spilling, and make him more gentle. It allows the child to step into the shoes of someone and be more compassionate towards others’ lapses.
Using worksheets
Worksheets can be valuable for nurturing children’s intuition and emotional intelligence. Using worksheets with compassion-based questions and answers promotes kindness and emotional intelligence in kids. These questions make them reflect on other people’s feelings and can foster intuition in kids.
Conclusion
The gut feeling can lead to kinder and more benevolent children. Parents can cultivate their child’s intuition by leading by example, teaching meditation and kindness, and validating their child’s feelings and gut feelings.
The Art of Living - Intuition Process helps develop compassionate kids by enhancing their intuition. Parents can learn more about the program to empower their children.
Related links
Compassion is forgiving someone without them knowing it
6 tips to melt your teen’s aggression with empathy
FAQs on raising compassionate kids by cultivating their intuition
Intuition is a natural ability that we all possess. It operates on a subconscious level and can manifest in different ways. For example, you may have experienced a gut feeling about a situation that turned out to be true. Or, you may have felt a strong sense of familiarity with a person you’ve never met before.
Dr. Prakash Amte and Dr. Mandakini Amte’s intuition helped them serve the tribal communities of Maharashtra through sustainable agriculture, education, and healthcare, building trust and understanding cultural differences.
Compassion plays a vital role in a child's development by teaching them how to be kind, empathetic and helpful to themselves and others. It can also inspire creativity and purposeful decision-making, as demonstrated when a child helps a classmate who is struggling with a difficult task.
“Whether capitalism, communism, socialism or secularism, no ‘ism’ will work without humanism. The heart of humanism is compassion, and it is essential.” - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Encourage them to listen to their inner voice. When they say, “My intuition told me,” take it seriously and guide them to trust their feelings. You can make them practice meditation to enhance their intuitive abilities.
