Top Ten Relaxation Techniques for Children

Relaxation is a stress free state that is achieved through a process of recreation, which diverts a person's brain from tension, relaxing his/her mind and body. Relaxation techniques enable a person to relax and attain a peaceful state of mind. The relaxation techniques aim at reducing levels of anxiety and are employed with intent to manage stress. They help reduce blood pressure, normalize the heart rate and breathing rate, thus proving beneficial for health.

Relaxation techniques were believed to be related only to adults. Stress used to be considered as associated with work pressures, family tensions and other responsibilities and hence was a point of discussion only in case of the grownups. Today the picture has changed. Relaxation techniques are no longer related only to the issues with grownups. Presently, even kids have to deal with stressful situations. Situations vary right from bearing the separation of parents to coping with school activities and also to keep up to the competition. When we started running the rat race, we made our children a part of it. The world became overly competitive and children had to be on their toes to excel in every field they venture. Today, children are falling prey to the ever-increasing strains. Stress has become a part of their daily lives. To be in the race, they have to keep striving to attain their seemingly unreachable goals and deal with the tension that is a side effect of their pace. This scenario of the present times has led researchers in psychology to devise relaxation techniques for children. Today's scenario has made it necessary to find and implement good relaxation techniques, which can suit children. Let us look at some of them.

Top Ten Relaxation Techniques for Children

Deep Breathing: This activity helps the children relax by slowing their breathing rate, their heart rate and normalizing their blood pressure. Teach your child to take a deep breath, hold the breath for a few seconds and then release it. This will enable the child to relax.

Music: Play for the child his/her favorite music. Certain tunes, instrumental pieces, certain forms of music have the power to soothe your mind and body. I always think of music as a form of divinity. It bears the strength to fight stress and can distract a child's mind from tensions. Music lovers like me can join the camp of listening to music when stressed out.

Exercise: Ask the child to relax his/her muscles. Ask the child to focus on different muscles of the body and try relaxing them one at a time. The child should start with stretching the arms and progressively his/her body. Physical relaxation eventually leads to the relaxation of one's mind.

Meditation: Meditation is the best kind of mental exercise. This exercise does not challenge your brain, it rather soothes your soul through the use of sacred messages you convey to yourself. The very well known yoga is one of the most promising relaxation techniques for children.

Laughter: Laughter, popularly denoted, as the best medicine is an excellent relaxation technique for children. All of us love to laugh; moreover a whole lot of clowny things trigger laughter in children. Comic books, words filled with humor, comic actions and the silliest of jokes can make children laugh. Laughter is a good exercise for the facial muscles as it relaxes most of the muscles of the face. Laughter creates a positive note in one's mind and is thus one of the best relaxation techniques.

Toe Tensing: This is a method of drawing tension down to the toe. It can seem difficult for a child to perform but with practice, it can prove to be a good relaxation technique for children. This is a fairly simple exercise that involves lying on the back and allowing yourself to sense your toe. Ask the child to pull his/her toe muscles towards the face and hold to the count of ten. Repeat the exercise. It helps relax the child's mind and body.

Visualization: Experts say that picturing the things you love can make you feel relaxed. Allow the child to imagine something nice and visualize that scenario in front of his/her closed eyes. The thoughts and imagery of a positive picture in front of one’s eyes makes the person feel relaxed. Imagining to have gotten what you want to get is like going near to meeting one’s aspirations. Thus imaging of good things happening to you is definitely helpful.

Take a break: Taking a break from the daily routine is very necessary when it comes to relaxation. The activity of relaxing is about switching off for some time of the day. Whenever your child feels stressed, ask him/her to take a break from work and rest for a while or engage in his/her hobby. Even a short break can serve as a refreshing stimulant to get back with a fresh new approach. A break can actually help the child find a solution to the stressful problems and make him/her distressed.

Binaural sound: Experts recommend exposure to binaural sounds as a good option for relaxation. The technique involves listening to binaural sounds for around half an hour per day. It is known to be generating signals of wavelengths that can reduce the stress in a person's mind. It is good to take guidance about how to apply this technique in children.

Introvert: This technique might sound a difficult task for children to perform, but if they are trained at an early age, they can gradually grasp it to serve as one of the very good ways of getting rid of stress. Introverting requires a person to contemplate the situation that gives him/her the stress. The person is advised to introspect one's problems, make a conscious effort of tracing to the root of the problems