5 Wonderful Benefits of Teaching Your Children to “Take a Deep Breath”
Discover five wonderful benefits of teaching your children how to “take a deep breath” in this article.
Breathe better to live better. This is undoubtedly one of the best lessons we can teach our children.
Breathing has wonderful benefits that can help them manage their emotions. It can even help them sleep better.
Breathing well is important to their physical, psychological and emotional health. Without a doubt it will change their day-to-day life.
We must admit it: we live in an overwhelming society where rush, stress and anxiety govern our days. It often causes a sensation of discomfort that we can’t seem to describe.
In normal conditions, humans breathe on average around 17 to 18 times a minute. In situations of anxiety, respiration can reach up to 30 breaths per minute.
“To live, above all, is to know how to breathe”
–Mao Zedong–
When it comes to children, it’s not very different. In fact, according to a study by AEPNYA, the Spanish Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, during childhood and adolescence, anxiety and stress are the most common psychiatric pathologies.
How can that be? What kind of education are we giving our children that they end up living with the same anxiety that adults do?
This topic can undoubtedly lead to many articles. We have to refer to the demands that are made of our children in the educational atmosphere.
Children today have very little time “to just be children” – to play, to enjoy leisure time and the outdoors. Childhood should be the golden days, however a lot of children feel overwhelmed by their emotions and external pressures.
One way to address this problem is by making changes and giving our children effective coping strategies. Emotional intelligence and starting the practice of breathing techniques are two great ways to reduce their stress.
In this article, we’ll explain the benefits of breathing techniques.
Breathe deeply to relax when angry
When our children are learning to accept frustration, it’s common for them to get overwhelmed by the emotions that swirl around in their minds. When we least expect it, these emotions can get ignited.
There are even times when we as parents feel overwhelmed and tired. We sometimes feel how our patience escapes from us drop by drop.
These are the moments when our children seem more restless than ever, more rebellious and more defiant.
When moments like these arise, there is nothing better than telling them the following:
- We’re going to sit down now for a moment and play a game.
- Let’s take a deep breath, letting our belly swell up like a balloon.
- Now let’s hold our breath for 4 seconds as if we were going underwater in a pool.
- Let the air go through your mouth as if you were launching a rocket. Let us release our bad mood through our breathing and see it fly away.
Deep breathing for children age 4 and up to teach them to relax
The age of 4 is the perfect age to start teaching children relaxation techniques. They shouldn’t think of relaxation as playing video games or surfing the internet. In order to teach them we have to act as role models.
As role models we can dedicate 5 minutes every day to practice deep breathing relaxation as a game with the instructions that we stated above.
They will sleep better
As our children become accustomed to breathing deeply and slowly, they’ll notice many benefits. One of them is that their metabolism will be better regulated, their heartbeat will be balanced and their muscles will relax.
If they form the habit of deep breathing before going to sleep, they’ll be able to consolidate sleep easily.
It’s worth a try!
“Every now and then I have to remind myself to keep breathing, that my heart should keep beating…”
Strong and healthy lungs
Children are constantly changing, they’re growing and they also need to pick up healthy habits that will in turn promote their development.
Although there are already schools that integrate yoga as a relaxation technique, there is nothing more positive than we as parents teaching them about breathing techniques which will also take care of their lungs.
- Breathing deeply favors lung and chest elasticity. It also reduces the heart’s workload, making their lungs stronger and more efficient.
- We must also keep in mind that breathing slowly and deeply helps to regulate their blood pressure. After a little bit of practice, they’ll have more efficient lungs.
Breathing deeply improves their concentration
Breathing slowly and deeply allows the mind to become more aware of itself. Pressures become normalized and we’re able to become more aware of our bodies as well.
If our children get used to breathing deeply whenever they’re agitated, nervous or angry, they’ll discover that things can change in just a matter of seconds.
Their mind will become clearer and they’ll find themselves, lighter, refreshed and focused.
We’re sure that you’ll also pick up this healthy activity with your children. Start today, breathe better to live a better life.
