THE
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF "QT"
"My Quiet Time" is a simple meditation designed especially for young children. It had its humble beginnings amongst the Indian Nations of the western hemisphere. Though the people of the Red Race often called it “Laka-Dula” they never referred to it as “meditation” it was nevertheless, a mental program designed to gently open the curious and creative element in the minds of small children. Above all else, Indian parents cherished their children. To be mentally and physically healthy was a requirement demanded by the Law of the Survival of the Fittest, the law that governs all life on our planet.
* * * *
Unlike our complex standards of today, Indian cultures did not disturb nature. It was considered “perfect” and therefore nothing could be done by man to improve upon it. Plants and animals were accepted to be living microcosms of all the knowledge contained in all of creation, if one could but develop the wisdom to comprehend it. Our EarthMother’s adornment was observed and respected with a reverence. To upset nature was to distort your source of knowledge and learning. This was a prime tenet in the basic Indian culture.
With nature remaining intact year after year, for countless generations, it became quite simple for children to “carve out” little personal nests or hideaway places all their very own. Their special place would become their private retreat where they could be all alone with their thoughts. This quiet refuge was comforting to their mind and bodies. Uninfluenced by any peer or adult, they were at liberty to think on any subject of choice and could freely derive any conclusion that suited their fancy.
* * * *
We were pleased to discover the eagerness in which the children wished to pattern their lives after the lives of little Indian children of long ago. This is a popular attitude of our kids today. This has made our program most acceptable and easy to deploy, much to the delight of their parents!
The "My Secret Source" Meditation for teenagers also met with the same positive eagerness to associate their lives with their Indian counterparts of yesteryear. This was a pleasant surprise.
* * * *
Meditation, by whatever name, controls stress. The human race has always been burdened with stress and rightly so, for it is the agent that prohibits complacency and ultimate stagnation.
Stress is the emotional product of the ever present “fear of the unknown.” Stress is based on the unknown factors which make up everybody's lives. Evolution depends upon this mechanism. No period of human history has ever been stress free. However, in today's culture, it certainly seems we are endowed with greater stress than any other time in the memory of men. Today, our lives must function at a frantic pace, the speed of which has never before been experienced. Children's schedules are a prime example. The hectic pace of attending multiple activities produces a stress unknown to preceding generations. Children under severe stress is a very real problem in our culture today.
"My Quiet Time" is the ultimate tool for coping with stress, whatever the source.
Schools, even Home Schooling contain the environment of stress. When kept under control, stress can no longer inhibit the collective learning process inherent in children.
* * * *
Little Indian children quietly learned to control their stress simply by visiting their secret hiding places once or twice daily. Everybody knew this. Everybody did this. It was a way of life. The children all participated in this function until they approached the age of puberty when a more disciplined method was introduced to them.
The opportunity to be all alone in nature was incredibly easy to accomplish, but that was only half of the total program. Once safely cached in an ideal environment to “think about things,” what was there to think about? Very young children are naturally lacking in experience and the subject matter stored in their developing brains was limited. So, what was there to think about? Where lies the necessary adventure and intrigue in this noble program?
* * * *
Come now the grandparents and their honored place at the evening campfire. Traditional, especially developed stories, used successfully for millenniums, sprang from the mouths of the attending grandfathers and grandmothers. These stories were told over and over until each little boy and girl had committed them all to memory.
It was these very special stories that picked the locks and opened the doors in the children's minds. These stories were designed and intended to ask more questions than they answered. The variety of subject matter was highly intriguing to the youthful mind.
After the story telling was completed for the evening, the children would respectfully question the grandparents on the story just told. Though they had heard it many times before, the questions and answers were always different. This was because the children, in their secret hideaway places, would think of new things as the story expanded and evolved in their minds. This was expected by everyone. The children would fortify themselves with their own thoughts and compare them with their peers, often through long discussions. Communication skills were polished here. To the delight of the grandparents and to the admiration of the parents, the kids were primed and ready for grandfather when he chose to tell the story again.
* * * *
The ever evolving line of questions along with the mutual sharing of ideas and information on a mental level, almost became a spiritual happening. The evening session around the dying embers of the campfire was an event anticipated and cherished by those who participated. This bonding between family and friends would last the lifetime. The adults quietly smiled as they watched the next generation learn their lessons and apply the knowledge as they trod the path into adulthood.
This is how it was. This was the system, the program. It worked! It worked very well for tens of thousands of years.
* * * *
Appropriate substitutions allow this ancient, tried and true program, to be employed in today's hectic culture. Appropriate pictures have been laboriously created to replace the secret hiding places in nature. One or more of these selected pictures will invite and entice any child to mentally enter their chosen picture and there find the quiet solace and the carefree joy which brings balance to a healthy mind.
Seven especially written books substitute for the grandparents campfire stories. These books are specifically written to intrigue and stimulate the little child's mind into constructive and creative patterns of useful practicality. All on a CD, these books are read to the child by the parents gathered around the computer. This becomes the substitute for the traditional "campfire". This agent of bonding through sharing, lasts the lifetime.
"My Quiet Time" is designed to be administered to the child by the parent or other qualified adult. When the parent is consistent with the short daily program for the first 30 days, the child will enjoy a lifetime of developing mental self discipline.
This is the essence of the "My Quiet Time" Mental Relaxation Therapy. It works! It will not change the world but for all those whom it touches, it will change their lives in a very remarkable way!
"QT" promotes the standard learning process by encouraging the child to enter into a picture scene, develop it to his liking, and explore the possibilities and adventures which lurk there. Secured and safe, he investigates fearlessly to satisfy his curiosity.
This early learned process becomes, and is, the true learning method which all children must master in school. The "QT" Program of Mental Relaxation is a tremendous asset in developing an insatiable appetite for learning, especially during the early school years.
Where stands the child who would not benefit from the "My Quiet Time" Program?
* * * *
