Anger, stress, sleep problem, unexplained fears, etc. If your child is overwhelmed by these troubles and strong emotions, relaxation can help. Discover some exercises that work.
At home or outdoors, your little wolf sometimes needs to calm down, but it doesn't always succeed. We offer some simple, fun and effective relaxation exercises for children to share pleasant moments of relaxation!
A method of complete relaxation
Relaxation is a method of physical and emotional relaxation within everyone's reach. The exercises performed during relaxation sessions are often borrowed from meditation, yoga and sophrology.
Meditation is not exclusively for adults. On the contrary, associated with relaxation, it is essential for the proper balance of the child. It allows him to develop his mindfulness and become autonomous by limiting external influences. More attentive, he manages to concentrate longer.
Certain yoga postures can also be practiced as a family and allow you to find a balance between body and mind. This discipline releases tensions and brings many benefits to the child such as strengthening self-confidence, calm down, becoming aware of his body, etc.
Sophrology, on the other hand, is an awakening to well-being that helps children find keys to manage their emotions and learn to relax.
What are the benefits of relaxation for children?
Relaxation helps the child to better manage his emotions and his body, and teaches him to relax on a daily basis or in slightly more stressful moments. So there are many benefits, here are some:
– In anxious children : they focus their energy on the present moment and are alert to everything around them. Relaxation allows them to relax their mental hypervigilance.
– In hyperactive children: regularly practicing relaxation activities with them allows them to learn simple techniques to regain emotional harmony.
– In children who have trouble managing their anger: this therapy helps them express their overflow of emotion.
– In children who have difficulty concentrating: they find it difficult to maintain their attention for a long time on a single subject. Practicing relaxation forces them to open their field of observation to make them more attentive.
To help your child relax, here are some ideas for relaxation activities that work every time!
I am a mountain
This relaxation exercise is ideal for calming down quickly, before going to the table for example, or when you feel that the child needs to calm down after strong excitement.
Sitting cross-legged, stretch your hands to the sky as if to form the top of a mountain.
Suggest that the child remain in this position for a few minutes without moving. The goal is to make him understand that, like a mountain, it is quiet. A mountain is not agitated, it is motionless, it must do the same.
To help him, you can offer him to visualize this majestic mountain that he forms with his arms and his whole body: it is a mountain, calm, silent, that one cannot move or overturn.
My bubble of tranquility
This posture allows him to refocus and feel protected, nothing better for total calm. A useful exercise when the child is worried.
Close your eyes, breathe in slowly through your nose, and breathe out slowly through your mouth.
Imagine a large bubble that forms around you and that will completely envelop you.
Suggest that your child calm down and tell him that he can feel reassured in this peaceful bubble.
To help him visualize this protective bubble, you can suggest that he draw it by drawing a circle around it. The child will remain in this cocoon for as long as necessary, with his eyes closed, until he feels perfectly soothed and relaxed.
To get inspired: The Big Book of Yoga for Children – Mango Edition
Balloon breathing
This breathing technique is to be proposed as a calm time for the child, so that he decompresses without hurrying.
While sitting or lying down, place one hand on your stomach to feel the movement of your breathing.
When you breathe in, your stomach swells up
In the exhalation, the belly deflates like a balloon.
Visualization guides the child and helps him understand how he should breathe. It is an activity that can be offered in times of stress but also at the start of the day to get off on the right foot. A breath exercise that is really easy to integrate and super effective.
Breath in the straw
Unlike balloon breathing, this exercise is express relaxation. It helps the child find calm instantly. Wherever he goes, he will always have his magic straw with him to calm down quickly!
Inhale while swelling the belly and blow slowly through your mouth, as if you were blowing through a straw. Repeat the exercise once.
In a second step, continue to breathe in the same way, but inhaling on 3 beats and exhaling on 4 beats.
Tension relaxation
Here is an exercise much appreciated by children, because it allows you to relax while having fun. It is very simple, just contract and then relax the muscles.
Clench your fists very hard and stretch your arms so that they become hard.
Then release your fists, hands, fingers and swing your arms as if they were foam.
Repeat the exercise by adding the legs
At the end of this moment of relaxation, the child releases his fists, then his arms and finally his legs to become soft like a doll! A good way to release tension without realizing it.
Zen on the belly
This little relaxation session is to be offered to children at any time of the day, so that they can reconnect with simple but very beneficial gestures.
Lie on your stomach, arms alongside your body, palms of your hands and the soles of your feet facing upwards.
The position should be comfortable, with the legs and arms completely relaxed and slightly apart from the rest of the body.
Place your right cheek on the floor and breathe calmly 3 times.
Then, put your chin on the floor, bringing your head back to the central position, and breathe slowly 3 times.
Finally, put your left cheek on the floor and breathe deeply 3 times.
Stay in position with your head rested on the side where you feel best, breathing slowly several times.
Suggest that your child focus on their breathing so that relaxation is optimal. When your toddler is lying down, you can gently run your finger over his back at the level of the spine, his buttocks, his legs and then his feet. This will help him relax the parts of the body you are traveling.
Relaxation while having fun
To make these exercises fun and to encourage the child to participate in them, offer them in the form of games. Talking to him and telling him stories so that he can visualize what he is asked will help him a lot. So don't hesitate to interact with him during these little sessions.
Once these postures are acquired at home, he can easily use them when you are not there, like at school for example.
All of these relaxation exercises will help your child manage stress, even on their own. Practiced regularly, they will become automatic when he feels the need to calm down. Parents, like children, relaxation is for everyone. There is no age to integrate these little reflexes so do not hesitate to practice them together.
Sources and bibliography:
We recommend these few books, which you can get in bookstores or online.
– Meditation and relaxation for my child – First Editions
– My first moments of relaxation – Milan editions
– The music of my emotions – Milan editions
– The great yoga book for children – 50 postures and endless possibilities – Mango editions
Also read on aufeminin:
Yoga postures to test with your child for a session at home
5 sophrology exercises easy to practice with your child
Why do ALL children do this?