Indigo Ocean Dreams

We bought this CD for my daughter when she was only 2 or 3. She is profoundly gifted (which we did not know at the time) and has all the baggage that comes with that. She is very intense and feels all of her emotions in a much more intense manner that I do. People always recommended "Raising Your Spirited Child" to me when they met her, even as a toddler. I was searching for some kind of tool for HER to learn how to deal with her emotions and to be able to relax more. 6 years later - I am amazed at what this CD has done for her. She listened to it at night to fall asleep when she was a toddler. If she got very upset about something, we would give her some "down" time to go to her room and listen to her CD. Her favorite track is the Angry Octopus one (since she always seemed drawn to the CD when she was angry). When she gave up naps, she would listen to this CD in the middle of the day as her "down" time. These coping techniques have helped her to learn how to deal with stress from a very young age. She's 9 now, and she chooses when to go put her CD on. When she knows she has a big test coming up at school or a presentation that makes her worry - she listens to her CD. When she has a bad day or a fight with her sisters - she listens to her CD. I had NO idea when I bought this CD that it was going to be a lifelong coping strategy for her. Seriously, I stumbled upon this CD when there was NOTHING else out there for stress-relief geared at children. This CD gives me hope to imagine a world where kids don't grow up learning to be stressed out, but they grow up learning how to deal with stress from a young age, preventing illness and all the awful anxiety disorders that so many people have. I can't imagine how much calmer everyone would be if we were given these tools as children. In short, I am highly impressed that it has had such a long term effect and has created a life-changing coping strategy for my intense child.

Indigo Ocean Dreams is important in light of current research regarding the brain and the detrimental effects of stress. As early humans struggled to endure, their brains became "hard wired" for survival. Today, though, only on rare occasions do we fight or run for our lives.Modern human brains when stressed, nevertheless, elicit the same fight or flight response our ancestors experienced. The problem lies in our inability to consciously recognize our brains still react to modern stress in a primal manner. Our brains still trigger hormones meant to optimize survival. Bodies become battle ready. Yet, unlike our ancestors, we experience few events that tell our brains, "Stop stressing. The danger has passed. Let's relax, feel safe and appreciate the fact we live for another day."Conversely, our ancestral brains learned how to reduce the deleterious effects of stress through relaxation and rest. With fire as a major safety tool and language a close second, humans developed the habit of nightly evaluating events. These reviews, especially the most meaningful, became part of a storytelling tradition. Children grew up hearing life-lesson stories. The flickering fire, the protection and warmth of shelter, and the hypnotic tone of the speaker's voice lulled listeners into a relaxed, trance-like state. Herein lies the antidote for contemporary stress, what stress-reduction scientists call the "relaxation response." Indigo Ocean Dreams helps children relax in a healthy, natural way. The stories speak to life as manageable and safe. Guided imagery and soothing suggestions induce the relaxation response and provide problem-solving lessons. Unlike the case with many relaxation recordings, the speaker's voice and delivery are pleasant. As a mental health therapist, I find this CD immensely useful. I suggest families purchase a copy and use one of the four stories nightly for at least a month. I have seen phenomenal success in some very tough cases. Indigo Ocean Dreams: 4 Children's Stories Designed to Decrease Stress, Anger and Anxiety while Increasing Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness

Reading the reviews I was a little worried this was only for helping children fall asleep. While we did fall asleep to Sea Otter Cove tonight we've enjoyed the others wide awake and love it. Not only do I enjoy following along with this with my four year old daughter I also enjoy watching her with it. Just this morning she was listening to Bubble Riding and I was making breakfast and it was so neat to see her eyes closed and swaying with the plants at the water spout.To address some complaints: this is repetitive and the stories are simple but that is the point of meditation. It's not to get you wound up in the story but to lull the mind and body into a different state of being and this works perfectly for that. Also the voice does not have a lot of up and down to it but it shouldn't since it's again supposed to be relaxing you not working up your senses.Also this is perfect for my four year old daughter. I suppose some kids might not be up to sitting still for it by four but I wouldn't under estimate any child till they had a chance. After all worse case scenario they are a little young and you wait six months and try again. Also I find it really helps if I listen with my daughter because she learns through my modeling just as much as by enjoying the stories and journeys they sea child goes on.

My daughter loves this for bedtime. Many different types of rain/storm sounds.

I bought this for my godson to help him relax and get to sleep. I thought I would listen to it once with my boys, 7 and 9 before we sent it, just to see what it was like. I was not allowed to send it! My 7 year old absolutely loved it having listened to half of it and said he had a really relaxing sleep all night. My 9 year old liked the affirmations and it triggered an interesting discussion about positive thinking.It is split into several short stories, each of about 15 minutes. The background sounds, for example waves are very soothing. As you would expect with anything aiming to relax and achieve a meditative state, the words are simple and repetitive, generating lovely images and encouraging you to imagine you are a particular sea creature, for example. All children are different, and not all will zone out completely but I think most children would be soothed and relaxed by the lovely images and sounds, and some, like mine, will hopefully be building a life skill of how to relax and breathe - highly recommend.

My niece loves this CD ( she is 10), and told me it has been so helpful to her. How wonderful it is that we can teach our young people positive ways to relax and cope with struggles within their lives.

Since buying these my daughters (7 and 2) & I listen to them every night after their bedtime stories.It's wonderful to listen to the calming voices and music, I can hear my daughters' breathing getting more gentle and relaxed as the cd continues.My 7yo tells me now that she loves the relaxation cd and that if she says something negative about herself she has to remember the sea child's voice telling her to say something positive. She gets the concept so well! What a wonderful product!I am already seeing a positive change in her normal negativity - can't rate these highly enough!!Excellent packaging & delivery too :)

My son really enjoys this CD, its great to listen to for naps and night time.