Identifying & Expressing Emotions For Kids

In this session, your child will be guided through the process of identifying and expressing their feelings - both physical and mental. They will come away with an increased ability to recognize what is arising in their internal state, along with the knowledge of why it is important. They more they know (and can express) the better they, and the people around them, will be able to navigate difficult emotions. This will ultimately help them to improve their emotional awareness and resilience!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session. I invite you to take a seat or lie down and get yourself comfortable. You can close down the eyes if you wish and take a deep slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and just feel what you're feeling. What is your body feeling right now? What is your mind feeling right now? Are you happy? Sad? Excited? Annoyed? Just note down how you're feeling and not just note it down but maybe even say it out loud. What are you feeling right now? If you don't know that's okay, Just say I don't know. What we're going to look at today is just feeling our feelings and learning to express them because by doing so by learning to feel what we're feeling and then expressing them we can become more aware and let the people around us know what we're feeling inside and if you know what you're feeling and they know what you're feeling then you can work together to ensure that everyone is happy and having a good time. So I want you to take another deep slow breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and we're just going to pay some attention to the different parts of our body. I'm going to look for two things what that part of our body is feeling physically and any emotions that might be sitting in that part of our body and I'll give you a little example. For me right now my belly is feeling a little bit full. I just ate some food so I'll be thinking about my belly it's feeling full and then some emotions there it's a little bit my belly's feeling a little bit anxious a little bit scared so what we're gonna do is or what I would do is in this case say my belly's feeling full of food it's got a little bit of scared feelings in there but we're not worried about it we're not making judgments about it we're not stressed about it we're just noticing what is arising. So the first thing we're going to do is just take another big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and just look at our entire body. Are there any physical things that your body is feeling right now and you can think it or even better say it out loud. Is it hot or is it cold or is it somewhere in the middle? Is it sore or does it feel nice or a little bit of both? Is it coveting soft clothes or rough clothes? How's your whole body feeling right now? What about any emotions that your body is feeling? Maybe overall you feel a little bit happy, Joyous, Maybe you're feeling a bit scared, A bit angry, A bit tired. What are you feeling right now? And if you don't know maybe it's a sort of a cloud sensation like a collection a group of feelings. Can you talk about both? You could say more I'm feeling a bunch of feelings that I can't quite name. That's okay too. Do you know why? Because you've just done it. You've just named the fact that you've got heaps of feelings. That's a good thing. The more you can identify and express your feelings the better you will feel and the easier it will be for you and those around you to make the changes necessary to have a nice, Healthy, Happy day. Take another deep slow breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and just draw your attention to your feet and your legs. And if you can say out loud what your feet and your legs are feeling. Do they feel restless, Full of energy, Or tired and heavy? What are your legs feeling right now? Are there any emotions that you can feel that your legs are holding? Now there might not be and that's okay too but we're just looking for it. We're just seeing it. We're just checking what our legs are feeling. You're doing very well. I'm gonna move our attention up to our chest and our belly. What are you feeling physically in your chest and your belly? Are you full? Are you breathing quickly or are you doing long breaths? Slow, Deep, Calm breaths. Does your chest feel tight? Can you feel your clothes on your chest or your belly? Maybe you can feel your pants or shorts or dress or whatever you're wearing on your belly. Just say it out loud. Say what you're feeling right now. And if you notice any emotions sitting in your belly or sitting in your chest, You can say it out loud right now too. There are no wrong answers. Now moving your attention to your back, Your lower back, Your middle back, Your upper back and your neck as well. Do you notice any feelings in those areas of your body? Any tension? Any pain? Any good feelings? Hot? Cold? A wind or a breeze? What are you feeling in those part of your bodies right now? Can you say it out loud? You're doing a very good job. Just notice if there's any feelings in those parts of your body. Any happiness? Sadness? Confusion? Annoyance? Anything at all? Remember there are no wrong answers. It's okay to be feeling what you're feeling. Just identify it. Say it out loud. All right, We're almost through the body now. There's just two more areas to go. We're gonna focus our attention on our arms and our hands. Are your arms and your hands feeling relaxed? Are they feeling tense? Are they jittery? Or are they quiet? Are they hot? Are they cold? Tell me, What are your arms feeling like right now? And of course, Are there any feelings being held in your arms or your hands? Can you let me know? All right, Well done. On to the last area now. Do you know which one it is? Your face. Your head. I just want you to feel the entirety of your head. The front and the back and the top and the sides. And just relax your jaw and just get comfortable and just feel whatever it is you're feeling. Does your head feel tense? Relaxed? Hot? Cold? Tight? Nice? Whatever you're feeling is correct and fine. We're not trying to change anything. We're not trying to do anything. We're just trying to say what we're feeling. Just trying to notice it. Just trying to express it. You're doing a great job. And the final thing, Are there any feelings in your head? Any feelings of fear or happiness or confusion or annoyance or anger or excitement? Anything else? What are you feeling in your head right now? Okay, Well done. You've done an amazing job. Remember, The point of this practice is to, Number one, Identify, That is, Become aware of any feelings that our body is feeling. Any feelings that our body is feeling. And they could be physical or emotional. And there are no wrong answers. Whether or not you're feeling good or bad or anywhere in between, It's all okay. The idea is that if you can identify and express what you are feeling, Both you and the people around you will know. Because no one can read minds, No one can read bodies, But they can listen to words. Even you, You can listen to your own words. And once you and the people around you know how you're feeling, You'll be able to understand and take different actions to fix any problems that arise. If you notice that you're feeling cold, You can put some more clothes on. If you notice that you're feeling sad, You could ask for a hug. If you notice you're feeling tired, You could head off to bed. Whatever you notice, You can take some action to address it. And if you're not sure what actions to do, Just ask the people around you. Say, Hey, I'm feeling like this. What should I do? And then listen to their answers. And if it feels right, Do it. Thank you for joining me in today's session. I look forward to seeing you in the next one. Catch up.