Stress relief is as important for children as it is for adults. Many times childhood stress is overlooked since kids don’t pay bills or have work-related stress. The truth is that kids do have a lot of stress. School situations, friendships, homework and tests, extracurricular activities, home responsibilities, and online bullies, among other things, add to childhood stress. If they’re teens, there is SAT and college admission stress, what-should-I-do-with-my-life stress, and sometimes relationship stress.
As loving parents, one of the best things we can give our kids is our time and validation for their thoughts and feelings. Additionally, we can teach them some of the following tools to help them navigate their daily stresses. In fact, these techniques could help anyone, even you and I. While these tools can be learned at any time, right before bedtime is a great time, so they can practice relaxation and drift off to a peaceful sleep.
Tense and Relax Muscles
Tighten up all your muscles one by one, and then release that tension and relax the muscles fully. Do this with all your muscles from head to toe (naming each muscle or groups of muscles – feet, calves, thighs, core, chest, back, shoulders, neck, arms, hands, fingers, facial muscles, forehead, scalp)…. and then your entire body at once. Release, relax and enjoy the benefit of this relaxation.
Deep Breathing – the Balloon Breath
Lie down and relax. Imagine a balloon in your tummy. Breathe in deeply to the count of 5, allowing that breath to inflate your imaginary balloon in your tummy. Slowly deflate the balloon as you breathe out. Repeat 3-5 times, until your body feels calm and fully relaxed. Deep breathing calms your body and your mind as you focus on peace and well-being. Take deep belly breaths for 2-3 minutes. You’ll feel refreshed!
Use your Imagination (Guided Imagery & Relaxation)
Take yourself to a beautiful, calming place in your mind. Imagine each of the details and allow the scene to calm your body and mind completely. Immerse yourself in the imagery and really feel you are there, relaxing and enjoying each moment. Imagine what you would see, smell, hear and feel. Feel your body light, relaxed, and graceful. As your body and mind relaxes, you’ll enter in a mini vacation that takes you but a few minutes to feel completely refreshed. You can use this technique anytime you need a quick get-away in your mind. There’s also the PIKU children’s meditation app, where you can listen to my meditation stories or download one of my MP3 albums for kids or teens.
Exercise
This is a great stress reliever too. Exercise makes a great part of your daily routine and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Just thirty minutes of exercise a day helps you feel more in control of your body, mind and life! Exercise can become part of your kids’ daily routine, just like brushing your teeth is. Your body and mind will thank you for it. Your stress will be reduced, you’ll feel better about yourself and you’ll start to focus on solutions rather than on the stress of situations. Exercise can be combined with one of the other relaxation techniques.
Stretch your body
Simple stretches put your body in motion and relieve stress. Stretching, just as any type of exercise, evacuates the stressful energy your body has built up. Stretching releases the built up tension.
Use positive self-talk to calm down and release stress
There is nothing worse than negative self-talk. It’s very destructive and tends to spiral downward. Remind yourself, you are in control of your thoughts and are the one to decide what thoughts you allow yourself to linger on. Negative thinking only causes more stress. Whenever you catch yourself talking negatively to yourself, decide to take control back and say something at least neutral if you cannot say something positive just yet. By choosing your own thoughts you show you are in control of your mind and actions. Focusing on the positive thoughts helps you feel good inside.