Deep Breathing Techniques for Kids: From Stress to Calm
When a child perceives a threat or senses they are unsafe, their autonomic nervous system kicks into gear, switching from their parasympathetic nervous system (calm state) to their sympathetic nervous system (stress state).
When a child’s sympathetic nervous system is activated, their pupils expand, their breathing becomes shallow, their heart beats faster, and the gut becomes inactive.
Teaching children deep breathing strategies is essential for their mental health as it equips them with a practical tool to manage distressing feelings. Deep breathing activates the body's relaxation response, helping to lower heart rate and ease tension throughout the body.
By learning deep breathing techniques, children learn how to regulate challenging emotions in a safe and healthy way.
Deep breathing techniques can help children regulate their autonomic nervous system moving from a state of stress back to feeling of calm. There are many different strategies – more on that below – but three of my favorites include hand breathing, rainbow breathing, and cooking breathing:
Hand Breathing: Take a deep breath in through your nose as you trace up your finger and breathe out through your mouth as you trace down. Repeat calming statements as you trace your fingers.
Rainbow breathing: Trace the rainbow with your finger. Breathe in through your nose as you trace to the left and out through your mouth as you trace your finger to the right.
Cookie Breathing: Imagine your favorite cookie. Take a moment to visualize the cookie in your mind. Now, take a deep breath in through your nose as you smell your delicious cookie. Then blow out your mouth as you cool your cookie off so it is ready to eat.
Today’s Exercise
Remind your child that they can use a simple deep breathing exercise to help calm themselves down when they feel anxious or stressed.
Teach them the three breathing strategies above - hand breathing, rainbow breathing, and cookie breathing - and allow them to choose their favorite. Practice the breathing strategy in a relaxed environment and continually remind them to use it over the coming weeks and months.
Resources
I created posters of ten different deep breathing techniques that you can use to help teach your child about deep breathing.
If you’re a teacher, these are also perfect for hanging in your classroom as a visual reminder for your students.