Teach Your Child Deep Breathing

The way you breathe affects your entire body. Deep breathing is an excellent way to reduce tension and stress. Children do face stress and anxiety, in fact the cases has increased in the past few decades, with 40% of children reported to be worried too much. Stress in children can be identified as short-term behavioral changes, such as mood swings, acting out, changes in sleep patterns, or bed-wetting.

Teach your children Deep Breathing to help them gain control over stress and anxiety. When children feel anxious, they take short, quick and shallow breaths. Such breathing can actually increase other symptoms of anxiety like increased heart rate, light-headedness, or headaches. Deep breathing will slow down his or her disturbed breathing. Deep breathing is a great method for your child, especially when they are anxious, feeling stressed, and you are not there to help him or her through it.

How Deep Breathing works:

  • Breathe in slowly through the nose (count till 4 in mind)
  • Hold it and count till 2 (in mind)
  • Exhale slowly through the mouth (count to 4)
  • Count to three before starting again.
  • Repeat at least 10 breaths

Ask your children to pretend that they are blowing a balloon in their belly while inhaling and emptying the balloon of air by exhaling. While practicing deep breathing, children’s shoulders and chest should be relaxed and still and only the belly should move.

Deep Breathing with Bubble Blowing toy

Bubble blowing toy is an entertaining way to teach children Deep breathing. The toy consists of a container filled with soap and a wand (to blow bubbles). The breathing technique for blowing bubbles is the same as what is used for Deep breathing as you will have to breathe slow and deep to make a big bubble or the bubble will burst!. Ask them to wait few seconds before blowing another bubble. It is important to inform your children that they are doing this to learn how to breathe deeply. Do not simply ask your children to blow bubbles without explaining the benefits of it.

The only way to become an expert of Deep Breathing is to practice daily. Children should practice it at least twice a day, doing 10 Deep breaths at a time. When they have mastered this skill you can rest assured, your children are ready to face the situations that cause anxiety and stress.

“No matter how tense the situation is. Just, take a deep breath!”