Introducing the tradition to young children
Hello,
I have a 16 month old kid and I wonder in what ways you guys think the vedic/tantric tradition can be introduced to young children?
For now this is what I do with my daughter (to clarify, I'm french and was raised an atheist, with Christian culture) :
I sometimes sing the sanskrit hymns I know, even partially
I painted a Saraswati icone for her during my pregnancy ( Saraswati felt right, and I later found out that this deity is often worshipped by children for knowledge acquisition and education related purpose.) I think I will add the yantra behind the canvas as well, so that she can use it for meditation. But I don't know much about yantras for now.
I sometimes do japa aloud or whispering to show her, but I know silent recitation is the recommended usage.
I don't have any children so I'm really not qualified to suggest anything. But when I was a child I recall watching my parents and wanting to do what they did but when I was made to do something I resented it because it wasn't my choice.
My father forced me to play sports. To this day at the age of 63 I have zero interest. Maybe if I was allowed to pick up the ball on my own with his appreciation of my chosen interest?
Instead my chosen interests have been inward turning since as long as I can remember since the age of 10 years old. Sitting on the grass in right field during a game blowing dandelions gone to seed was far more interesting than the ball rolling past me.