Start early, do it often: Talking meditation with 15-year old Stella Blu McFall

The benefits of meditation can’t be disputed: it reduces stress, helps with self-image and even can help you get a good night’s sleep. And the earlier you start incorporating meditation into your life, the more likely are you to have it be a part of your routine for decades to come. Teen Stella Blu McFall takes us through how she started her practice, finding joy and the one important thing you can learn from meditating. 

First off, could you tell us a bit about yourself…. who are you, and what kind of things do you do with your spare time? 

My name is Stella Blu McFall. I’m fifteen and I live in Amsterdam.

I really enjoy my social life and being with friends, but I also do really value time with myself and learning to be comfortable with that. I really love dancing, singing and a lot of creative and artistic stuff. I like my art classes in school, and history.

So how did you get into meditation? What do you get from it?

It was mostly through my parents –I grew up in a kind of spiritual environment. I would always see them meditating and then I guess I just joined in and did it myself. I went to a few yoga classes and meditations and really enjoyed it so I kept on doing it.

A big thing that meditation helped me with was when I moved to Amsterdam from the States – having to learn to let go and build new connections. It taught me to connect with myself, release feelings and gain new ones. I definitely think that it helped me grow.

Meditation isn’t just looking at yourself in the mirror. You’re really feeling different parts of yourself that you sometimes didn’t even know that you had or adventuring off to different places in your self.

What can other kids your age get from learning to meditate?

I don’t ever hear my friends saying, “Oh yeah, I’m gonna go meditate now.” But I think it could be popular.  It’s a big thing to do – to take time and really dedicate it to yourself. You can have different goals, but the most important thing is to just understand yourself and get in touch with your core. Maybe you’re having some thoughts you don’t really understand, or you’re confused about changes in your life. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s a really good place to come back to and reflect on.

Besides meditation, what else bring you joy? 

I love being with people that make me laugh, spending time with my family or close friends. And dancing – it’s like a meditation in a way, if you find something that you can really resonate with. It’s just the same as getting to know yourself or pushing yourself or seeing how much you can do and how far you can go and your impact on the things that you do.

If you’re really creative you should have more structure, but the people who have the structure already can benefit from creativity, even if it’s writing poetry or something.  I love painting and art, because it’s another way to get out of your normal self, another way to transition to a more artistic and spiritual place. There should be balance in whatever you do.

Inspired? Find Stella’s first meditation here.

Please note that this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.