“Reinforcing Positivity through Awareness” JVB’s Meaningful & Fun Filled Children Summer Camp
By Seema Jain
HOUSTON: JVB Preksha Meditation Center, Houston conducted its Annual Children Summer Camp with much vigor & enthusiasm. The camp was held from August 7th-11th under the auspicious presence of Samani Kanchan Pragyaji & Samani Pranav Pragyaji (Disciples of Acharya Shri Mahashraman). A total of 35 Kids, ages 6 to 11yrs. attended the week long eventful camp where they played, explored, laughed and learned together. Kids looked forward to each day as their day was a colorful mixture of Yoga, Meditation, Art, Craft, Games, and Science activities.
The uniqueness of this themed camp “Reinforcing positivity through Awareness” was in its five-different awareness themes for five different days. Kids started every morning with blessings of Samani Pranav Pragyaji’ s (Jain Nun) prayer session, where they sang and learned a devotional prayer. It was followed by a 30 min Yoga session by Brenda Cocina who specializes in kids’ yoga classes. Two-hour awareness theme session with various hands on activities was held under the expert guidance of Magic Touch teachers, Pratima Desai & Sheetal Kothari on each day. Special art & craft session for ages 9-11yrs. was also provided by Monart School of Art every day.
The first day of the camp was all about “Awareness of mind” which taught them discipline, focus, and mindfulness through clapping and breathing techniques. The second day belonged to “Awareness of speech and actions” where they learned the consequences of their own actions and reactions and various Meditation techniques which can help them control their negative thoughts. The third day “Awareness of Surroundings” aimed to teach them compassion towards mother nature and how they can use their own five senses. The next day was all about “Awareness of Knowledge” and focused at teaching them how right knowledge can empower them as well as the people around them.
The finale day connected kids with how they can Integrate Gratitude & Joy and be respectful towards people and grateful for little things in life. They also kept the writing journal throughout this week. Kids love to measure, mix and bake. Baking mini muffins with different flavors, and then savoring the deliciousness of their own creations turned out to be most fun activity of this day.
All the kids enjoyed fun games like Jeopardy, Hot Potato, Sharks & Minos, tag a friend organized by senior class volunteers of JVB Gyanshala, Udai Jain, Vani Jain, Neer Jain, Snaemi Jain, Sakshee Jain, Anshumi Jhaveri, Ronak & Aarav Mehta. Everyone loved making new friends. In closing, JVB President Seema Jain organized a small get together where all the parents shared a positive feedback of their week-long experience as well as how kids felt excited at the end of the day.
No event is successful without the help of talented and dedicated volunteers who are the backbone of any organization. About 15 dedicated volunteers came together to join hands in nurturing the young curious minds with their creativity, enthusiasm and love. JVB center truly appreciates & salutes its volunteers and looks forward to their patronage and affection for many more community events coming on the way!
JVB Preksha Meditation Center is home to a specially designed Preksha Dhyan ‘Pyramid’ Meditation Hall and is located at 14102 Schiller Rd, Houston, TX 77082. It has free weekly Meditation, Yoga & Swadhyay sessions, Gyanshala Classes for ages 4-14 yrs. on 1st & 3rd Sunday which are open to all. Upcoming Events include Annual Day Cultural Celebrations & Adhar Abhishek Pooja on Oct. 7 & 8th.
For more information, please visit www.jvbhouston.org or call Seema Jain @ 281-575-0575.