The Power Of Calm Breathing

This session introduces the concept of calm breathing. Kids will learn the benefits of completing the course: staying calm, in control, stop feeling hurt, getting super focused, eliminating boredom, making friends, how they are connected to the world and those in it, and making morning and night-time routines successful. By the end of the session, they will know how to use slow, calm breathing in response to physical or emotional duress, as well as start mindfully observing their mental state as they breathe.

Transcript

Hello, I've got a challenge for you. I want you to take a seat on the ground, Or on a chair, And sit super tall so your back is nice and strong, Your head is pulled up, Your hands are resting on your lap, And I want you to take a big deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Are you ready? Let's do it together. That was pretty easy, Wasn't it? What we're going to do now is we're going to see if we can do, Let me think, Three slow breaths in a row, And I just want you to think how they're making you feel. Are they making you feel a bit excited, Or a bit calmer, Or a little bit energetic, Or a little bit sleepy? We're going to do these three breaths and then I want you to tell your parent or your guardian how those breaths made you feel. Let's do it. Great work. So, How did those slow breaths make you feel? So, I want to tell you a little story. I have two children, Archer, Who's five, And Jordan, Who's one. And when Archer was a little boy, When he was about two or three, I started teaching him slow breathing. Because he was just starting to walk, He would always be bumping into things and falling over. And then a little bit later on, He would want to play with toys, Or he would He would want to play with toys, Or grab stuff out of the kitchen, Or do things that he wasn't allowed to do. Because he was so young, It was a little bit too dangerous for him. So, We had to say no. And that made him a little bit frustrated. He was either in pain or annoyed. And that's not ideal. You know, No one likes to be frustrated or in pain. Feeling annoyed doesn't feel that great. So, I thought, How can I help my son, Archer, To feel a little bit better? How can I help him to have the skills to be able to calm himself down when he's sore? And you know what the best skill is? Calm breathing. Seriously. Whenever he gets upset, Whenever he falls over, Whenever he wants something that he's not allowed to have, We just reminded him, Saying, Hey, Take some calm breaths. And you know what? He gave it a try. Let's do a big calm breath now, And I'll continue the story. You ready? One day, He was going for a run, Chasing a ball. And he ran so fast that he tripped up over his own feet and fell flat onto the ground. Thankfully, He put his hands out. But in doing so, His hands became super sore because they hit the concrete. And he started crying. He started yelling. But then together, As a family, We all did some calm breaths. And although the pain didn't stop entirely, After three calm breaths, He started to relax a little bit. He was able to open his hands up and show them to his mummy. And his mummy was able to get an ice pack and some cream and help him out, Was able to give him a kiss on the forehead and let him know it'll be okay. The tears came back a little bit. It started to sting again. So do you know what he did? That's right. He took some more calm breaths. I think a good amount of calm breath to take is three. If you can take three slow, Calm breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth, You're going to be feeling so much better. And do you know what? If you still feel a little bit sore or annoyed or angry afterwards, You can just take some more calm breaths. One of the other things we use calm breaths for in our family is if we're having an argument. If Archer gets super upset, Or I get a little bit upset, Or we get a little bit emotional, We realize that together we all need to take some calm breaths. So as a family, We're just like, Hey, Let's pause and take some deep, Calm breaths all together right now. And as a family, We all take three slow, Calm breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. And usually after that little break, Just three breaths, Everyone's a little calmer and we can think a little bit clearer. And we can use our words to say what we're feeling rather than just yelling and screaming. Because I don't know about you, But I know that it's hard to understand when people are yelling and screaming. It's hard to make sense of what they want. But when my son, When he takes some calm breaths, He's able to say what he wants, What he needs, And I'm better able to give it to him. So one thing you could do with your parents or your carers is have a little bit of a rule. When one of you notices that everyone's getting a little bit frustrated, One of you says, Hey, Let's take some calm breaths and then we can talk about it. And then you'll sit down and take three slow, Calm breaths and then have a little chat. Let's do some calm breaths right now. Let's do another three. So sitting nice and tall, Head nice and high, Back straight, Hands on the laps, Big, Slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Are you ready? Let's do it. Great work on that one. So what I want you to remember is this. If you're feeling angry or annoyed, Or if you find yourself in an argument with anyone, With your parents, With your carers, With your teachers, With your friends, With your brother or sister, If you find yourself yelling, If you find yourself frustrated, You could take three slow, Calm breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to calm down and help you to better use your words. And if you hurt yourself when you're playing at kinder or school or in the home, That's right, You can take some slow, Calm breaths to help you to better cope with that pain. Now, The pain won't just disappear, The frustration won't just disappear, But what these slow breaths do will be better able to help you process it, Better able to help you manage it, Better able to get you to be able to ask and accept help. And that's what we need. If we're struggling, We make sure to use our voice, Use our words and say, Hey, I need some help. This is what I need. This is what happened to me. Now, If you have any questions that you'd like to ask me about calm breathing to reduce pain or upsetness, You can do so in the classroom. Just ask the adult with you to say, Hey, Can you ask this question and I'll give you an answer. So, Let's end the session with one more big, Slow, Calm breath. You ready? Great work. And I'll see you back here for the next session. Hey there, I just wanted to let you know that this track was from my course, Mindfulness Meditation and Calm Breathing for Kids. It's out now and you can check it out of my profile. Enjoy.