Relaxation Tips for Children

Children can benefit from calming techniques before falling asleep, when beginning and ending lessons and classes, after lunch and after a field trip or other vigorous activity. Relaxation also helps them release anxiety and improve focus ability. If your kids get stressed, anxious, angry or emotional, these tips may help them. (Ref. 1)

Breathe

• Balloon Breathing: Lie down on the floor with your hands on your stomach. Breathe in slowly and deeply. Feel your belly expand as it fills up like a balloon and raises your hands. Once you can do this lying down, practice it standing up.

  Sigh Breathing: Breath in through your nose and hold it as long as you can. Sigh and release all the air in a huff.

  Patti Teel, author of The Floppy Sleep Game, suggests the following method, called Elevator Breathing: “Start the elevator ride by breathing in through your nose. As you breathe out, feel the breath travel all the way to the basement, where your toes are. Breathe in and take your breath up to your belly. Hold it. Now breathe out all your air. Breathe in and take your breath up to your chest. Hold it. Now breathe out all your air. Now breathe in and take your breath up to the top floor, up your throat and into your cheeks and forehead. Feel your head fill with breath. Hold it. Now breathe out and feel all your troubles and worries leave your body and go out the elevator door.”

Creative Visualization and Imagery

• Children imagine and visualize easily. Teach your children to visualize themselves succeeding. Teel suggests the following process for guided relaxation (Ref. 1): Use a slow relaxed voice and try to involve all your child’s senses. ?Pause to let the scene “set” in your child’s mind. Lower your voice a few tones to create a more hypnotic, restful mood.

  Tie the visualization exercises into your studies or interests. For example, if your child loves butterflies, describe the beautiful butterfly and each of its parts while she closes her eyes ? and “sees\" it.

  Use emotive imagery. Personalize the story or scene so your child is in it. (Ask permission from your child first.)

Laughter

• Laughter is body’s natural way to release stress and feel better. A great activity involves experimenting with different kinds of laughter. (Ref. 3) Educational specialist and school psychologist Jennifer Jazwierska, suggests trying to laugh like a hyenna, like Santa Claus, like you’re stuck in a hole in the ground, like your nose is plugged, or like you are tied to a tree and someone is tickling your toes with a feather.

Music

• Music helps soothe away distractions and worries. It stimulates the brain in other ways as well, helping your child focus. According to educational author Sandra F. Rief, M.A., “Research has found that instrumental musical arrangements at 60 beats per minute has therapeutic effects.” (Ref. 3)