Hi,
I wonder how many of you have ever felt sad or angry or scared or upset or if you've ever not been able to sleep at night.
I'm guessing that at some point you've experienced all these things because these are all normal things.
These are things that happen to all of us sometimes.
It's our body's way really of looking after us,
Of keeping us out of danger even though it doesn't feel like that at the time.
So it is okay to be all those things to be worried or angry or annoyed.
But sometimes when we feel these things we feel a little bit out of control.
And today I'm going to share with you a really easy technique that you can use that will help when you feel any of these emotions.
And hopefully it will be able to calm you down so that you can think more clearly and choose the decisions that suit you best.
It's not a difficult thing to do at all but first of all I want you to lift your hands up in front of your face about six inches with your palms facing towards you.
And I want you to just touch very gently your thumb with your first finger.
And then with your second finger.
And then with your third finger.
And then with your pinky finger.
And each time you touch a finger with your thumb we're going to count.
So let's try that just now together.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now sometimes you might need to do that several times before you start to begin to feel calm.
But if you do it nice and slowly and take your time then you will feel that your heart stops pounding quite so much that you do begin to feel calmer.
Now obviously there will be lots of times when you won't want to stand with your hands in front of you counting your fingers because you won't want people to see you doing that.
So you don't have to do it like that at all.
That was just a way to demonstrate it.
You can easily do that counting with your hands by your side.
No one will ever know.
They might just think that you're fidgeting with your fingers.
So why don't you try it just now with your hands by your side.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
You can even do it with your hands in your pockets.
You can just do it with one hand.
And it's a really good one to do in school if you're feeling a little bit stressed.
Even when you're writing with one hand you can gently put your other hand down on top of your desk and just raise your fingers.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Remember you might have to do this a few times.
It's also really useful if you're finding it difficult to go to sleep at night too.
The other thing that you can use this for is perhaps before an exam or a big event.
Maybe if you're going to do some sport or you're going to play on a team in a really important game or match.
And you can do the counting for that too.
Or you can add a little mantra we call it.
And instead of counting to four you can say I can do this.
It's the same count,
It's four.
But it's I can do this.
I can do this.
When you do get used to using this technique,
And I hope that you do,
You might be able to notice that with each count you match your breath to it.
So one is a breath in,
Two is a breath out,
Three is a breath in,
And four is a breath out.
And that just gives you something to focus on.
Something to think about instead of the thing that's upsetting you or making you angry.
Just concentrate on your breath,
Concentrate on the counting or the mantra.
And I'm sure it will really make you feel better.
I hope you find this useful.
And I hope that you do manage to use it whenever you need to.
Thank you.
