Healthy Self Care:
Peaceful Calming Place Exercise:
Find a peaceful comfortable place to relax and to gather your thoughts. Close your eyes and imagine a place from your past that was peaceful and calming. It may be useful to have peaceful, calming music playing in the background. Ask yourself the following questions to enhance your visualization. Follow the instructions below to draw, collage or other to enhance this experience.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques are extremely useful tools that you can use to help reduce your stress, relax, and enjoy life! Practicing these various techniques can help to improve coping skills in the face of stress -- which may lead to an enhanced quality of life.
It can be as simple as changing the way you breathe, think, or move. There are many different ways to relax, at varying levels of difficulty (or ease) that offer numerous health benefits. Explore the different techniques for reducing your stress -- find what works for you, and incorporate it into your daily life.
One thing to remember is that relaxation techniques offer the greatest stress-reducing benefits when the technique itself does not stress you out! Choose to practice relaxation techniques that you like, feel comfortable with, and feel relaxed by. Then learn to make it a regular part of your life!
RELAXATION TECHNIQUE EXERCISES: We offer additional quick relaxation techniques that you can utilize anywhere and only take a few minutes or less:
Deep Breathing: Breathing deeply and slowly will send messages to the brain that our hearts/bodies need to slow down. Practicing will make deep breathing easier and more natural.
- Identify the source(s) of your stress - Try to solve the problem that is causing you stress, or learn to cope with it positively. Don't avoid, deny, or withdraw from the problem, because it will continue to exist and affect you.
- Access social support - Talk to someone you trust, whether it be a friend, spouse, family member, or counselor. Social support has been found to reduce stress and improve mental and physical well-being.
- Learn and practice relaxation techniques - Take the time to slow down and relax. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, visualization, and yoga reduce stress and improve health.
- Be physically active - Exercise reduces stress and improves health and well-being. Do something that you enjoy doing (like walking, jogging, swimming, biking, yoga, etc.) and you will reap the stress-reducing benefits immediately.
- Get enough sleep - Sleep helps the body to repair itself and reduces stress. A lack of sleep can give you more stress.
- Balance your time - Time management skills can help you find balance, order, and control in your life - all of which reduce stress. Procrastination increases stress.
- Don't use drugs or alcohol - Drugs temporarily numb you to stress, but in the long term they undermine health, well-being, and can worsen stressful problems, rather than fixing them.
- Avoid caffeine & energy drinks - Stimulants keep the body from relaxing and can overtax your body. It is also important to know that you can overdose on caffeine!
Peaceful Calming Place Exercise:
Find a peaceful comfortable place to relax and to gather your thoughts. Close your eyes and imagine a place from your past that was peaceful and calming. It may be useful to have peaceful, calming music playing in the background. Ask yourself the following questions to enhance your visualization. Follow the instructions below to draw, collage or other to enhance this experience.
- Imagine your peaceful calm place – it can be a real or an imagined place.
- What do you see – especially noticing colors?
- What sounds do you hear?
- What sensations do you feel?
- What smells do you smell?
- What people or animals would you want in your peaceful calm place?
- Imagine a protective bubble, wall or boundary around your safe place.
- Imagine a door or gate with a guard at your safe place.
- Imagine a lock and key to your safe place and only you can unlock it.
- You can draw or make a collage that represents your safe place.
- Choose a souvenir of your safe place – a color, an object, a song.
- Keep your image of your peaceful calm place so you can come back to it when you need or want to.
- Consider making a relaxation tape of your safe place to listen to at leisure. .
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques are extremely useful tools that you can use to help reduce your stress, relax, and enjoy life! Practicing these various techniques can help to improve coping skills in the face of stress -- which may lead to an enhanced quality of life.
It can be as simple as changing the way you breathe, think, or move. There are many different ways to relax, at varying levels of difficulty (or ease) that offer numerous health benefits. Explore the different techniques for reducing your stress -- find what works for you, and incorporate it into your daily life.
One thing to remember is that relaxation techniques offer the greatest stress-reducing benefits when the technique itself does not stress you out! Choose to practice relaxation techniques that you like, feel comfortable with, and feel relaxed by. Then learn to make it a regular part of your life!
RELAXATION TECHNIQUE EXERCISES: We offer additional quick relaxation techniques that you can utilize anywhere and only take a few minutes or less:
Deep Breathing: Breathing deeply and slowly will send messages to the brain that our hearts/bodies need to slow down. Practicing will make deep breathing easier and more natural.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose – count to at least 4 or 5 in your head, feeling the air fill your lungs from your belly upwards through your chest.
- Hold your breath for 4 – 5 seconds – again counting in your head.
- Breathe out slowly through your mouth, pretending like your breathing out through a straw.
- Repeat this process until you feel a little calmer.
- Try to raise your shoulders up to your ears.
- Hold for the count of 4.
- Now drop your shoulders down to their normal position.
- Repeat these steps 3 or 4 times.
- Close your eyes and draw your attention inward.
- Imagine yourself smiling with your mouth and eyes.
- Say to yourself “Alert mind, calm body”.
- While exhaling let your jaw, tongue and shoulders go limp.
- Feel a wave of warmth and heaviness sweep down your body to your toes.
- Enjoy this feeling of peace and relaxation.
Self Care Exercises for Children
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Helps people to relax their body one muscle group at a time and is a great way to release tension. It also helps to calm you down during a moment of panic because it brings your attention to your body, how your body is feeling, and helps you to focus on actively calming yourself down. When your body is feeling calmer, you will be able to think more clearly about what is happening around you.
Helps people to relax their body one muscle group at a time and is a great way to release tension. It also helps to calm you down during a moment of panic because it brings your attention to your body, how your body is feeling, and helps you to focus on actively calming yourself down. When your body is feeling calmer, you will be able to think more clearly about what is happening around you.
Layers of Sound Activity
Have the child sit comfortably and get quiet. Listen for the furthest away sound that you can hear. Then, listen for any sounds that you hear in your house. Next, listen for any sounds that you hear in the room that you are in. Last, listen for any sounds within your own body. Share what you heard with each other. This activity is grounding and can help the child to bring their attention back to their environment and away from the distressing event that was making them upset.
Bubble Breathing
Get bubbles if you have them in the house or have the child pretend that they are blowing bubbles. Have the child breath in deep through their nose and blow their belly up like a balloon. Instruct the child to breathe in with their belly and not their chest. Have the child blow the air out through their mouth like they would if they were blowing bubbles. Deep breathing helps to calm the nervous system, which helps you to feel more calm when you are anxious.
Have the child sit comfortably and get quiet. Listen for the furthest away sound that you can hear. Then, listen for any sounds that you hear in your house. Next, listen for any sounds that you hear in the room that you are in. Last, listen for any sounds within your own body. Share what you heard with each other. This activity is grounding and can help the child to bring their attention back to their environment and away from the distressing event that was making them upset.
Bubble Breathing
Get bubbles if you have them in the house or have the child pretend that they are blowing bubbles. Have the child breath in deep through their nose and blow their belly up like a balloon. Instruct the child to breathe in with their belly and not their chest. Have the child blow the air out through their mouth like they would if they were blowing bubbles. Deep breathing helps to calm the nervous system, which helps you to feel more calm when you are anxious.
