From aromatherapy to volunteering: how to DIY your kids' spirituality
Reva Seth says she didn't feel drawn to any organized religion but she saw the benefit of spirituality for her kids' mental health, so she decided to create her own rituals and traditions.
Reva Seth has created her own secular rituals and traditions for her family
CBC Radio ·
What does it take to build your own spiritual framework for your kids? (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images)
Social Sharing
How do you give your kids the benefits of spirituality without the trappings of organized religion?
That's the conundrum Reva Seth faces. She and her husband are raising their three sons in Toronto.
Reva Seth says taking time for little rituals like aromatherapy or gratitude will help her boys' mental health in the long run. (Submitted by Reva Smith)
"All the data shows us that having a spiritual foundation has all of these incredible outcomes in terms of depression, addiction, mental health, mental wellness. I wanted to give that to my kids but I didn't see myself joining an organized religion," Seth tells Tapestry guest host Ali Hassan.
Instead of signing up at the nearest church, synagogue, or mosque, she decided to create her own secular traditions for her family.
Some of the rituals Seth has introduced to her children are group yoga classes, mindful meditation, gratitude practice, and aromatherapy. Some of these things are a hard sell for her three boys, but she believes it's worth the effort.
"Sometimes it's just so hard to just stop and say, 'Ok we're going to have a good day, you've got this'; there's something you can connect to," she says.
Secular tradition challenges
Seth was raised with Hinduism in the background, but it wasn't a central part of her childhood.
"My mother had her own pujas set up. She would light incense in the morning and I think just take a moment for herself but that was her personal thing. My father viewed religion like insurance, like 'just do it because you don't know, but don't ask a lot of questions."
Reva doing mindfulness meditation with her boys. She's adopted many different traditions to give her kids a strong spiritual foundation. (Submitted by Reva Smith)
Although Seth strongly believes her secular curriculum is the best answer for her family, she admits that leaving the structure of organized religion presents challenges.
"I've had on my to-do list for the past year: 'Find a place where the boys can go serve other people.' When you stray away from your [religious] framework, you lose the community, you lose the opportunities.
"It would just be so much easier if they went there and after temple they served food or helped old people with their shoes. I have to now scramble around to find those opportunities."
For Seth, the task of providing her boys with spirituality outside of organized religion is a work in progress.
And she believes the eye-rolls over scented oils and group meditation are worth it if, in the long run, her sons retain some tools to help them navigate the messy world around them.
Click LISTEN to hear more about Reva Seth's DIY spiritual curriculum for kids.
