The world is an unfamiliar place right now causing stress and anxiety to rise in everyone, including our children. Finding time and ways to reduce these is imperative to our children mental health. Meditation has many benefits to improve overall health and well-being.
You may be asking what cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is? Well put simply, cognitive behavioural therapy is a short-term therapy that focuses on one particular problem with set goals in place. You will learn techniques and strategies in order to reach your goals. With mental health on a decline due to Covid19 you may not be able to seek treatment from a professional so here are some tools that you can do with the children at school or in the home. These tools are beneficial for everyone to work on strengthening their mental health and mindfulness.
Life events and our daily stressors can have the potential to create a situation in which our emotions become a destructive form of anxiety. These destructive emotions include but are not limited to a racing heart, obsessive thinking and, inability to breathe.
The “Butterfly Hug” method was introduced to help lighten these emotions. This method is a therapeutic intervention to help relax and calm these rapidly destructive emotions.
Moods and emotions can be big feelings that even some adults have trouble understanding so we cannot expect children to be masters of theirs. There are many ways in which we can help children understand what they are feelings, such as role modeling, through pretend play, and mood cards. In this blog we will be focusing on mood cards, what they are and how to use them.
Children have just as much stress, frustration, and/or anxiety as most adults but are not able to understand or control it in the moment. During moments of stress and anxiety children tend to tense up certain muscle groups unknowingly and have a challenging time relaxing them. This can lead to the children being in a state of high anxiety for longer periods of time.
Stress balls are fun to squeeze and play with, and also offer an opportunity for students to engage with their senses, regulate their emotions, and increase their focus and concentration while doing school work or other activities. Watch the video or follow the steps below to make a stress ball!
Interactive yoga for preschoolers is a fantastic way to start your day. Jumping and stretching are energizing and you can never go wrong!In this video... Set up your yoga mat if you have one, along with any yoga cards you might have (If you have them) Ask your...
Willow OT recaps the Childhood Anxiety: 5 Key Strategies to help children and teens cope – a webinar offered by the
Institute of Child Psychology.
The Secret Tool that Can Instantly Shift Families from Chaos to Calm (and for some reason, nobody seems to ever talk about it) “Did you brush your teeth?” “Don’t forget to pack your gym clothes.” No TV right now, hurry up and eat your cereal.” “Did you put your trip...
Written by: Kelly Letros - Behaviour Therapist During spring break, I was enthused to spend my week with children who had registered for a week-long camp program. Daily, they were running to and fro through the corridors of the centre, from one pre-planned activity to...
Whether you are the type of person who wakes up ready to take on the world, or the type of person who needs time and space to prepare for the day, adding a few moments of mindfulness practice to your morning routine can make all the difference to your mindset for the...