The drug counselors are back at our school. They come as a privately-hired group to discuss the hazards of drugs with the 4th through 8th-grade kids.

“They told us not to eat anything in the medicine cabinet,” says the younger Chattering.

“Yeah, but they haven’t said anything yet on the really interesting drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin,” says the older boy, seeming glum.

“A-huh,” I say, pleased he didn’t mention Ecstasy.

Here are my chattering thoughts: while it’s important to teach our children how to manage peer pressure, it’s even more important to teach children how to identify and change consciousness and mood. It’s not good for a parent to say, “I need this glass of wine to relax, honey.” That’s awful, in fact. Look at the message: “I need to ingest this substance so I can get to a better place.”

How beautiful the world would be if all parents showed children that going out for a walk or a run, having a period of stretching or meditation, can help one relax, expand awareness, and change the course of the day.

My thinking is influenced by Dr. Andrew Weil‘s first–perhaps greatest–book “The Natural Mind,” now available in a revised edition. Weil essentially reminds us that the need to get “high” is in us all, it’s part of human nature. Weil strengthens his argument by recalling how small children love to spin in small circles until they fall down. There’s nothing wrong with feeling giddy or dizzy, or being in an altered reality, right?

How do you manage the occasional need to dissolve into your senses? Passionate sexual activity? Eating something marvelous? Going to the gym? These are all ways to change reality. The trick then is to help our children find healthy, productive methods to do the same thing. They shouldn’t get into the habit of linking “fun” or “recreation” with mood-altering substances.

The other day, my older son had a friend over and the two of them played a game that involved seeing how long the other could hold a fistful of extremely sour candies in his mouth. They found this hilarious. They were rolling on the floor, holding their sides. Their eyes were popping out.

“Oh boy,” thought chattering I. “There it is.”

Team and individual sports are wonderful in part because they help kids develop an awareness of the body’s sensory system as well as the breath. Since my chattering guys are a tad bookish–well, more than just a tad–Mr. C. and I have to think up ways to get them moving and breathing hard. “Run to the end of the block and back, honey,” I tell my older boy almost daily. “Inhale, inhale. Exhale, exhale. Go!”

He looks at me as though he’s not especially fond of me in that moment. But then off he usually goes. When he comes back fully winded, I say, “It’s cool, right? You feel different.”

I know there’s more to come, we’ve got a long way to go. I’m trying to develop a system through which I could get the whole family meditating. More on that later.