Belly Breathing to Calm Your Anxious Child
BY GOZEN! ON APRIL 30, 2013 IN DEEP BREATHING, GOZEN! ANXIETY RELIEF
There are so many things that cause anxiety for children: a new place, new people, a
stressor like the start of the school year, or an upcoming exam. Divorce, peer pressure,
over-scheduled days, making a decision… they can all trigger anxiety in your child. In
fact, about 25 percent of children ages 13 to 18 will experience anxiety at some point
with about 6 percent suffering from severe anxiety disorder. While finding the root cause
of your child’s stress is paramount to helping him, it’s important to find a way to help
your child cope while he’s working through his troubles.
One way to help calm your child’s fears during
a stressful situation is diaphragmatic breathing, or belly breathing. Children prone to
anxiety tend to practice shallow thoracic breathing, which uses upper chest muscles
rather than the diaphragm and can cause headaches, fatigue, cramps, and muscle
tension. However, engaging the diaphragm with deep breaths gives your child the
oxygen he needs in difficult times.
Research finds that most children 10 and older practice thoracic breathing regularly.
This type of breathing is highly ineffective. Thoracic breathers tend to take 15 to 22
breaths for every five to eight breaths taken by belly-breathers. The shallow breaths
deprive your child of carbon dioxide and can result in hyperventilation, which causes its
own set of problems.
Not sure if your child is a thoracic or belly-breather? Conduct a small test to find out. Put
your hand on your child’s stomach and ask him to breathe normally. If you find very little
movement in his stomach as he inhales, chances are that he’s a thoracic breather.
Teaching your child to breathe with his diaphragm will help him calm his heart rate
during stressful situations. And according to studies, deep breathing can be as effective
in combating anxiety as the antidepressant imipramine.
So where do you start? One of the most important things to remember is that children
will mimic what they see you do, so don’t just direct your child; practice the breathing
exercises with him and he will learn that much faster. Follow these easy steps to get
started:
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Have your child place one hand on his chest and one on his belly, then imagine he is
blowing up a balloon in his belly. Breathing in deeply through his nose, his belly should
fully inflate and he should feel it inflate with his hand.
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
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Tell your child to exhale out his mouth, making a “haa” sound.
Inhalations should last half as long as his exhale. So if he inhales for three seconds, his
exhale should last six second. For older children, extend the time of the inhale and
exhale.
Repeat until your child is relaxed, then practice up to three times a day until your child
can engage in this strategy regularly.
There are many other ways to practice diaphragmatic breathing that are accessible
through an Internet search. The important takeaway is to make sure your child knows
how to calm himself during an anxious episode. While parents work hard to nurture and
protect their children, the reality is that we won’t always be by our children’s side to
remind them what to do. So the more you can make belly breathing a habit, the better
prepared your child will be in the future
- See more at: http://www.gozen.com/belly-breathing-to-calm-your-anxiouschild/#sthash.JeyZI8M7.dpuf
Top Ten Relaxation Techniques for
Children
By Kelly Roper
From fear of the dark to coping with the pressures of school, peers and the SATs, every child
experiences his or her own fears, anxieties and feelings of stress. Teach your children some of the
most effective relaxation techniques to help them manage their daily stresses. This will give them
tools that can benefit them throughout their entire lives.
Ten Great Ways to Help Children Relax
There are many techniques children can use to reduce their stress and relax. Depending on the
child, some may work better than others. Try teaching your child one or two of the following
techniques to begin, and then gradually add in more as he or she feels ready to try them.
1. Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is an effective way of slowing down the body's natural response to stress. It slows
down the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and provides a feeling of being in control.
This simple technique can be done by anyone.
1. Simply breathe in deeply.
2. Hold the breath for a moment.
3. Release it slowly.
Repeat the deep breathing until you feel relaxed.
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation offers a wonderful way to relieve stress. This is accomplished by
tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups in your body.

Face - Ask your child to scrunch up her nose and forehead like she smells something
stinky, and then have her relax her face. Repeat three times.

Jaws - Ask your child to clench her jaws together tightly like she's a dog hanging on to a
bone, and then have her release that imaginary bone and let her jaw go completely loose.
Repeat three times.

Arms and shoulders - Ask your child to stretch her arms out in front of her, and then raise
them above her head and stretch as high as she can. Have her drop her arms and let
them hang loose. Repeat three times.

Hands and arms - Ask your child to imagine squeezing an orange as hard as she can with
one hand, and then dropping that orange on the floor and letting her arm and hand go
limp. Repeat three times, and then switch to the other arm.

Stomach - Have your child lie on her back and clench her stomach muscles as hard as
she can for just a moment. Have her release them and relax. Repeat three times, and
then have her do the same technique while standing up.

Legs and feet - Have your child stand and press her toes against the floor as though she
is digging them into sand at the beach. Have her alternately press them and spread them
enough to feel it in her legs, and then have her relax. Repeat three times.
3. Exercise
Exercise is a great form of relaxation. Walking, running, swimming and playing all provide the kind of
exercise that children love. However, do not overlook exercising to music. There are many excellent
exercise CDs and DVDs for all age groups.
4. Visualization
Visualization is also known as visual guided imagery. This technique uses the imagination to slow
down the chatter of the mind and help release negative thoughts and worries. This technique can be
especially useful following progressive muscle relaxation, which first relaxes the muscles and then
calms the mind. Imagining a beautiful, peaceful place is one type of visualization that's easy for
nearly any child to use as a stress reducer. Color visualization can also be helpful and is a very
simple technique to teach a child.
1. Ask your child to imagine a favorite color that makes her feel peaceful and safe.
2. Have her imagine taking in that color with each breath and sending it throughout her entire
body as she exhales.
3. Have her continue until she visualizes being filled with her special, relaxing color.
A soothing sound, a special aroma, or the feeling of warmth or light can be used in place of the
color.
5. Laugh
Laughter is a wonderful stress reliever that, according to the Mayo Clinic, soothes tension and helps
the body relax.
Ways to encourage your child to laugh include:

Telling jokes

Taking turns making silly faces

Watching a funny cartoon
6. Stretch
Stretching relaxes built up tension in the muscles. Teach your child how to gentlystretch each
muscle group and feel the muscles relax.
6. Listen to Music
Listening to calming music can help a child regain focus. Even very young children may enjoy
listening to relaxing classical music or the music of artists like Enya or Josh Groban.
8. Meditate
The Mayo Clinic also advises that meditation techniques, such as yoga or transcendental meditation,
relax the mind and body. Here is a simple meditation your child can use at home, but it works well in
the classroom too.
1. While your child sits on her bed at home, or at her desk before class begins, she should
place her hands in her lap and close her eyes.
2. The next step is to breathe in and out slowly and evenly.
3. Each breathe in and each breathe out counts as a single count, and she should practice
this even breathing for a count of at least 50 (try for at least 30 in the classroom).
4. As she settles into the meditation, she should focus on listening to her breathing. As she
does, she'll begin to feel more calm and focused.
5. When she finishes her count of 50, she should take a very deep breathe, let it out slowly,
and then open her eyes.
9. Cuddle
Encourage your child to cuddle with a pet or a hug a loved one. According to Deborah Rozman,
PhD, the interaction can lower blood pressure and decrease stress hormones.
10. Toe Tensing
Toe tensing draws tension down from the rest of the body. This simple exercise should be repeated
ten times each session.
1. Lie on your back and allow yourself to sense your toes.
2. Use your toe muscles to pull all ten toes back in the direction of your face and hold to the
count of ten.
3. Relax your toes and hold to the count of ten.
Practice These Techniques Together
Many of the techniques on this list are effective for individuals of any age. Do not hesitate to modify
any of the techniques to make them age appropriate for your child, and feel free to participate
yourself. Reducing your own stress and relaxing more might just have a trickle-down effect for your
child as well