Deep breathing is a great calming technique for kids and parents. Last week I shared the “Smell the flower, blow the candle” technique. This week I want to add another way of teaching this concept to kids from Deborah Gray’s book, Nurturing Adoptions.
Teach children to breathe in through their noses and out through their mouths slowly, concentrating on having the diaphragm move out as they take a breath and in as they release breaths. Have them visualize all the things that bother them. Then, tell them to blow those thoughts and feelings out into a big balloon. They will naturally take a deep breath right after that. Then tell them to let the balloon float away and have them blow up another one. (Nurturing Adoptions p. 195)
The idea of letting worries or troubling thoughts float up and away appeals to me. I’m going to try it with Honeybee and Dimples. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Be sure to stop by the least complicated to read a great tip from Jennifer.
~Lisa
Cupcake gets so mad at me if I remind her to breathe deeply, but maybe if I use REAL balloons, this would work. By the way, the smell the flower, blow the candle has worked really well for ME when I'm stressed. :-)
Love,
Julie
Julie, real balloons sounds like a great idea. I may give that a try!
I tried it with my son who is three… and quickly realised I should practise it with him when he is calm and happy. :-) Thanks for the tip though.
Kirstine – good thought! Once they are dysregulated, their brains are not able to learn a new task or do auditory processing. I hope you try it again.