4 Relaxation Techniques For Children

Children also get stressed and they too need techniques to manage anxiety and stress. If children do not learn relaxation techniques to handle these intense emotions, they could have a very negative impact not only on their development, but also on their way of interacting in the world.

Children also feel fear, stress and anxiety about their day to day. They have pressures at school, they may feel stressed because of their peers; each child experiences their own fears and their own emotions. Teaching children some effective relaxation techniques can help them manage their daily stresses. This will give them tools so that they can benefit throughout their lives, not just in childhood.

There are many techniques children can use to reduce stress and relax. Depending on the child, some techniques may work better than others, so it is important to teach them different. Try teaching your child one or two of the following techniques to start with, and then gradually adding more techniques, but only when you see that your child is ready to learn more.

Relaxation techniques for children

 Deep breathing

Deep breathing is an effective way to slow the body’s natural response to stress. It slows down the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and provides a feeling of being in control with everything around us and with ourselves. This technique is very simple and can be done by both children and adults. Consists in:

• Take a deep breath and breathe in for 8 seconds.
• Hold your breath for 3 seconds.
• Release the air slowly through the nose or through the mouth for 10 seconds.

You need to repeat this deep breath until your child begins to feel relaxed.

Meditation

Meditation techniques such as yoga, breathing or simply relaxing the mind and body is essential for children to learn to channel stress. They are relaxation techniques that will serve children for life. If you want to introduce your child to a simple meditation you can use the following technique:

• While your child is sitting on his bed or chair, put his hands in his lap and close his eyes.
• The next step is to breathe in and out slowly and evenly.
• On each inhale and exhale numbers will be counted, for example up to 50.
• While you breathe and count, you should focus on listening to your breathing and as you do so, you can see how little by little you feel more calm, focused and relaxed.
• When the count is finished, you will need to take a very deep breath and slowly let out the air… then you will have to open your eyes.

Laughs

Laughter is great relaxation techniques because laughter helps us release the tension we have in body and mind. Laughter is a wonderful stress reliever, and it will also help you relax and help your child relax as well. To encourage your child to laugh, you can practice the following techniques:

• Tickle contest
• Silly faces
• Tell jokes
• Watch a funny movie
• Just laugh to spread laughter to others

Display

Visualization is a very powerful technique for relaxation since our mind can help us with images. Imagination is what will help us stop stress and free ourselves from thoughts and worries. This technique is especially useful after having progressively relaxed the body, because first we have to relax the body and then the mind.

You can ask your child to imagine a beautiful and quiet place, to imagine it with beautiful colors. And then, follow the instructions below to make it even easier for your child to get visualization and for his visualization to help calm him down:

• Close your eyes and take a deep breath
• Ask your child to imagine his favorite color, the color that makes him feel more calm and confident
• Tell him to imagine that color with every breath and send it to his body every time he inhales
• Then ask him to continue imagining that special and relaxing color, to keep it in his mind
• Then it can change to a soft sound, a special aroma, a pleasant sensation …
• Hold the visualization for several minutes and then take a deep breath and open your eyes.