Being a kid takes a lot of energy! After a full day of bike-riding, skateboarding, soccer games and friends, they need opportunities to relax and wind down from all the fun. Here are some tips to help your busy bees relax.
Like adults, children feel pressure from their day-to-day lives that may cause them to feel tense. It is important to be sensitive to the need we all have to release our stress. These include grades, friends, changes in family dynamics, relocating to a new home or starting a new school. All of those things can create a need for you to engage your child in relaxation exercises.
Here are two ways to help your kids relieve their stress:
1) Soft Music:
Pick a CD with soft, gentle music that is about five minutes long for children ages five and over. Ask your child or group to lay down on their backs creating a small circle on the floor with feet in the center, ask them to spread their feet about a foot apart and close their eyes and then begin to take deep relaxing breaths. This provides children the opportunity to learn body awareness. Ask them to remain silent and still during the excersise. This excersise may also be done while sitting on the floor criss cross applesauce or even while seated at a desk.
2) Yoga:
Yoga isn't just for adults. The benefit children gain from learning to meditate and becoming one with nature provides mental as well as physical relaxation. Yoga is a great opportunity for kids to use their very vivid imaginations, They can picture themselves in the warm sun of a beautiful garden filled with green grass and scented flowers where birds are singing softly and butterflies are fluttering. The key is to stimulate the imagination while taking deep breaths and cleansing the day's cares away. Check your local area for community yoga classes for children. Yoga is a benefit they can take with them for life. It promotes good health and is a creative way for kids to learn relaxation techniques.