Today we're going to do a progressive relaxation for kids.
Before we get started,
Go ahead and get all your wiggles out.
Do some jumping jacks,
Whatever you need to do to get ready to sit for a few minutes.
Once you're ready,
You can come to sit in a chair.
You can sit cross-legged on the floor.
Or you can lay down with your hands at your side.
Progressive relaxation is like using an on-off switch on different parts of our body one at a time.
Before we start using our on-off switch,
We're going to take three deep breaths in through our nose and out through our nose.
If that's uncomfortable,
You can breathe in and out through your mouth.
We're going to take our first breath in.
We'll go in and breathe out.
Our second breath in and out.
Third breath in and out.
As we use our on-off switch,
Keep breathing in and out.
For our first on switch,
We're going to do our foreheads.
We want to wrinkle our forehead.
If you lift your eyebrows,
Kind of like you're surprised,
Your forehead will wrinkle.
We're going to hold that for ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now you can turn it off.
Our second on switch is going to be our shoulders.
So we're going to bring our shoulders up near our ears.
We're going to hold it for ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And turn it off.
Bring your shoulders down.
Our third on-off switch is going to be our hands.
So we're going to put our hands in fists and hold them super tight and keep them close to our body.
And we're going to hold them for ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Turn it off.
You can wiggle your fingers a little bit and put them down to your side.
Next,
We're going to turn our legs on.
So if you're sitting or laying down,
You'll take your toes and point them towards your knees.
If you're sitting cross-legged,
You might want to put your legs in front of you and have your knees point,
Sorry,
Your toes point back towards you.
We're going to hold that for ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And let it go.
You can roll your feet if you like.
Our last on-off switch is going to be our toes.
We're going to curl our toes,
Which means you'll curl them like you're trying to pick something up.
And then you'll hold that for ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Turn it off.
Before we go and you get on with your day,
We're going to take three more breaths,
Either in through your nose and out through your nose,
Or in through your mouth and out through your mouth.
Let's begin.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Last breath in.
Breathe out.
Before you get up and move around,
Think about how you feel now,
As opposed to a few minutes ago.
I hope you have a great rest of your day.
