Help Your Kids Calm Down Faster
This pandemic we are living in can be hard on families with young kids. You are home, all day, with no relief or maybe you are out working and worrying that you might be bringing something home to your children. Your kids may be scared too, and they don’t have the emotional skills to be able to process this level of fear and uncertainty. Your whole family needs new and improved coping kills. In this blog, I am going to teach you a few quick and easy techniques you can use to help your kids calm down more quickly and reduce any anxious feelings they may be having.
One of the most efficient ways to help your kids calm down is to help them calm down their bodies.
A kid friendly way to do this is to practice a technique called the “The Butterfly Hug.” This simple body-based technique helps their flight or fight response to relax and allows them to calm down quickly. Your body being calm makes easier for your kids to calm down. Try the technique on yourself first and see how you feel. Watch the video below and follow along.
The Butterfly Hug
Why It Works
When your kids are feeling anxious, scared, worried, or upset, their body gets flooded with stress hormones. These stress hormones signal their brain that they are in danger. Once this occurs it becomes difficult for kids to manage their behavior or communicate what they are feeling because their physiology is on high alert. They are being run by their stress hormones and lack the skills to be able to work through this. By using energy-based techniques like the Butterfly Hug you can help their body reduce stress. This allows them to return to a calm state more quickly and easily.
Pro Tip
Instead of waiting until your child is totally overwhelmed, integrate this technique with your kids throughout the day. This will help them stay calmer all day long and hopefully avoid some major blow-ups.
More Resources to Help Your Kids Calm Down
If you found the Butterfly Hug helpful here are a few more tools you can use to calm anxious feelings: Simplified Safe Havening, Healing Head Hold, Calm Breathing.
Need Help From a Professional?
Helping your family navigate this crisis is difficult. It’s normal to need help with this. You don’t have to go through this alone. Check-out the ACEP practitioner directory to find a certified ACEP therapist in your area or Online.
Author: Kirsten May Keach MA- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Kirsten Keach is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Orlando, Florida. Her specialty is relationships. She helps couples and singles develop meaningful, lasting, soulful love relationships. In her free time she is an avid traveler, Improv comedy performer & Amateur Salsa Dancer. Learn more about Kirsten here.
Video Resources Provided by the ACEP Humanitarian Committee
The mission of the ACEP Humanitarian Committee is to develop and implement humanitarian projects that alleviate emotional distress caused by catastrophic natural and man-made events around the globe. We do this by encouraging and assisting ACEP members in developing humanitarian projects that utilize recognized energy psychology and other modalities that meet ACEP’s standards and guidelines. Learn more here.
