(1) Make it a habit
When you and your family regularly take time to stop and mindfully experience the moment, you form a habit. By habitually calming your body and mind, you’re building in prevention against cumulative stress and anger.
(2) Eliminate distractions
When all of the world’s brightness and noise is removed, children can begin to take deeper breaths and enjoy the moment. Sometimes, we have to learn to filter out incoming stimuli and when that isn’t possible, we need to physically get away from it all.
(3) Provide a variety of restful choices
Sadly, a lot of younger children are only physically calm when watching TV or using an iPad. These things are fine within moderation, but as parents, you can build a larger relaxation repertoire for your kids by offering a wider choice of restful activities. For example; reading, drawing, coloring, building, cooking etc.
(4) Create calm environments
Is your home calm? Try to limit the amount of yelling in the house, even if you’re only calling out for someone’s attention. Yelling is the opposite of relaxed.
(5) Model
If you are constantly stressed, on-the-go and unable to sit still, you are not modeling relaxation. If being calm is hard for you, we suggest setting a timer for you to sit, play calmly with your kids or even close your eyes for ten minutes. Relaxation is essential to a healthy life.
