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stress relief

How Do You Help Your Children Handle Stress?

January 27, 2010 By Lor

Feeling stressed? Parents are no strangers to stress. We breathe it. We live it. But have you noticed that our children can get stressed, too? There’s school. There’s peer pressure. Then there’s the visit to the dentist or the doctor. There are so many things that can get to our kids.

I remember my boy when he was younger. He used to get frustrated easily when it came to his toys. He would try to do something and when it didn’t work out the way he wanted to, when he wanted it to, he would start making growling sounds. Sometimes, he would even end up throwing toys around.

What do you do when these things happen? Do you just let your child handle it alone and consider it a learning experience? Personally, I think that parents should step in and talk their children through stressful periods. Here are some ideas which can help.

Talk your child through it. When you know that something is stressing your child out, approach him/her and try to get him/her talking. Stress is always triggered by some issue, and the sooner you get to the bottom of that issue, the more you can deal with the stress. You can also help your child deal with his/her mental condition. Teach him/her to say positive phrases in his/her mind and repeat them over and over again. Examples would be “Calm down,” or “I can handle this.” Whatever phrase you think will work for your child, emphasize that.

Teach your child breathing techniques. These work for adults, why not for children, too? When I was going through a particularly stressful episode, a yogi friend taught me a couple of breathing techniques. The simplest – and yet quite effective – one is to just take deep and long breaths. You just need to focus and do it slowly. You also have to count (at least up to 3) while inhaling and exhaling. After several repetitions, you feel yourself calming down. A twist to this is to inhale through your mouth with your tongue twisted (this may not be possible for those who are not genetically able to twist their tongues). The idea is that the air going in is cooled, by the tongue; and this supposedly has a more calming effect. I have been doing this a lot and it helps!

Make a “stress box” with your child. Get an old shoe box (or if you want, buy one of those nice storage boxes from the mall) and fill it up with little things that make your child happy. Stress balls, Play-Doh, a coloring book – whatever calms your child down. Make it a point to always go to the stress box when your child starts getting stressed. Pretty soon, he/she will be going to it on his/her own.

Any other ideas on how to teach your child to handle stress?

Fun With Fur – Proven Stress Relief or Is It?

February 27, 2009 By brian

puppy1puppy2puppy3
Our furry friends have been known to lower stress of parenting and childhood for they offer companionship without question even if they do get around to mischief from time to time. Raising kids can be quite hectic specially in today’s recession wrecked economy but having them take care of a pet can be a nice way to teach them some responsibility. They do entail some costs for care and veterinary services to ensure they are fit and well but take my word for it, they’re well worth the cost so knowing the breed through updated dog information is essential for both your sakes.

You can also try animal shelters and animal charities for some pets that have had it rough and need loving families. May you be a pet lover or not, dogs and all other pets deserve care for they are our responsibility. Dogs are more energetic than cats and may even contribute to the health of your family as you have to take them for walks, call it a symbiotic existence where both benefit from living together.

Parents and kids alike will benefit for with the kids, they get to get a taste of responsibility and compassion for animals. For us adults, they become a sort of multi-tasking ward, guarding our homes, watching over the kids and what can we say, it’s just fun to talk and pour out stress without having the other party answer back!!!
puppy4

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