It may be hard to believe but the way we breathe really does have a big impact on how we feel and deep breathing is actually one of the quickest and most effective ways to calm a stressed, anxious or angry child.
When your child is feeling stressed, anxious or angry their ‘fight of flight ‘response kicks in which can lead them to take short, shallow breaths that originate in the chest. This reduces their ability to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, increases their heart rate, and can actually exacerbate their feelings of anxiety and stress.
When they breathe deeply on the other hand, they send a message to their brain to relax and slow down, which is then forwarded to the rest of their body. When this signal from the brain is received, the negative symptoms such as increased heart rate start to reduce. These symptoms are then replaced with a sense of calm, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. For kids, practicing deep breathing is also a great way of getting them to focus on something else rather than the thing that they are feeling anxious, angry, upset or frustrated about.
Benefits of Deep Breathing
Research has now shown that deep breathing can provide the following benefits:
- Reduces feelings of anxiety, overwhelm and emotional distress
- Lowers stress levels
- Relaxes muscles
- Increases energy levels
- Increases focus and concentration
- Supports blood and organ health
- Reduces pain.
Fun and Simple Breathing Exercises for Children
The key to engaging kids in breathing exercises is to keep them simple, fun, and easy to remember. Below are some exercises you could try.
(Remember that when teaching mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing to children for the first time, do it when they are calm. This will mean they are more receptive and willing to practice them with you. For more tips on how to approach mindfulness with your children refer to the previous blog post here).
Balloon Breathing
To teach your child Balloon Breathing, ask them to:
- Sit comfortably and cup their hands around their mouth.
- Breathe in deeply, and when they breathe out (through their mouth), ask them to expand their hands outward as if they are blowing up a balloon.
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
You could also pair this exercise up with a visualisation by asking your child to imagine all their worries, or the feelings they want to release, filling the balloon. When they have finished blowing up the balloon, they can visualise it flying away, taking all of their worries / uncomfortable feelings with it.
For extra support in teaching this technique to your child check out my book ‘Alyssia’s Magic Balloon’. In this book your child will join Alyssia on a magical journey as she learns how to use her magic balloon breathing to release the butterflies from her tummy, calming her nerves and anxiety about her first day at school. There are also additional breathing exercises and lots of other activities for children to complete at the end of the book. For more details visit my childrens books page here.
Flower Breathing
To teach your child Flower Breathing, ask them to:
- Sit comfortably and imagine they are smelling a lovely flower.
- Breathe in deeply through their nose as they smell the flower.
- Breathe out slowly through their mouth.
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
Bubble Breathing
To teach your child Bubble Breathing, ask them to:
- Sit comfortably and imagine they are blowing bubbles.
- Breathe in deeply through their nose.
- Breathe out really slowly through their mouth to make sure they don’t pop the bubble!
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
Flower – Bubble Breathing
You could also combine Flower Breathing with Bubble Breathing by asking them to imagine they are smelling a flower on the in-breath and blowing up a bubble on the out-breath.
Bumble Bee Breathing
To teach your child Bumble Bee Breathing, ask them to:
- Sit comfortably and breathe in deeply through their nose, keeping their mouth closed.
- With their mouth still closed, make a humming or buzzing noise like a bumble bee as they breathe out.
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
Candle Breathing
To teach your child Candle Breathing, ask them to:
- Sit comfortably and imagine they are going to blow out the candle on a birthday cake!
- Breathe in deeply through their nose.
- Breathe out slowly through their mouth with a long exhale.
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
Flower Breathing – Candle Breathing
You could also combine Flower Breathing with Candle Breathing by asking your child to pretend that they have a flower in one hand and a candle in the other. They should first smell the flower in one hand by breathing in through their nose. Then when they breathe out, they can pretend to blow out the candle in the other hand.
Belly Breathing
To teach your child Belly Breathing, ask them to:
- Lie down comfortably and place one hand on their belly and one hand on their chest.
- Take a deep breath in for four counts.
- Then breathe out slowly through their nose for four counts.
- Notice the rise and fall of their chest and belly as they breathe in and out.
- Repeat as necessary until they feel calm and relaxed.
Bunny Breathing
To teach your child Bunny Breathing, ask them to:
- Take three quick sniffs in through their nose like a little bunny would do.
- Breathe out slowing with a long out-breath through their mouth.
For more information around deep breathing and different breathing exercises that adults could use visit my adult blog here.