How to calm & relax children…  (or anyone for that matter)

Want to know a really quick & effective way to Calm & relax your child?

then read on ……..

Readiness –

• Make sure your child is comfortable & able to lie fairly still, preferably lying on their back. If this is difficult then it may help if you massage your child’s legs & feet with a firm squeezing & releasing down the leg & then a sweeping motion from calf to ankle including down the foot.
• If still not settling physically, ask the child to squeeze & tighten their whole muscular body as they take a big breath in .. hold for a moment & then as the breath releases, release the muscular squeeze. You can do this 3 times in time with 3 long, releasing breaths, Your child should now feel relaxed enough to lie relatively still.

Technique –

• With both your child’s hands or one of your hands resting softly on their belly, ask them to become aware of the breath. Allow them to relax into this now conscious flow of their breath & observe if & where you see any movement as they breathe in. (upper chest, mid chest, belly, combinations or neither)

• After 10 – 20 seconds of observation ask your child to breathe in & draw the breath into that area below the belly button, guiding it down beneath the gentle touch of the hand.

• The breath should be natural, never forced or strained. If this occurs, ask them to stop trying to bring the breath down towards the belly & just breathe softly & gently. Try again in another 30 seconds to guide the breath towards the belly & if the child seems to be trying too hard or the breath seems forced, then return to the natural breath for the remainder of this exercise.

• Once a comfortable rhythm is established, ask them to feel the breath move the belly in a gentle rise & fall motion. Breath moves in – belly rises ….. breath moves out – belly releases. If you wish us the analogy of a balloon gently inflating & deflating or the tide gently moving in & out. Even a swirling cloud of colour being drawn into their belly can help some chldren who need a visual cue.

• Begin to count the breath in co-ordination with the belly rising & falling …. i.e.. breathing in 1 … breathing out 1, breathing in 2 … breathing out 2 & so on. **Make sure you count with the childs rhythm, not your rhythm. This is very important!**

• Count to 10 only …  you might find the child continues on their own or is happy to finish. It is not unusual for the child to fall asleep if tired.

Give your child time to ‘come out’ of their internalised state & re-connect with the external world. In Yoga class I use a systematic way to do this which I would be happy to share with you if you wish. Just let me know!

Yoga is a system that is supportive to good health on so many levels & it is so important to expose children to these age old practices so they build healthy habits from an early age.

So why not join them & all receive the restorative benefits that come with this simple calming technique!