More information about our 2006 Expo schedule coming soon!

December 16th, 2005

Tips to Reduce Stress for Kids and their Parents

Children and their parents currently live in a hurry-up world of competition, pressures and many days rushing from one activity to another. The bustling pace of our lives, especially during the Holiday Season, can have a profound effect on our innate joy – and usually not for the better. The following are some simple exercises you and your family can do together to keep the Holidays from becoming overwhelming. Try one or all together before you set out on your rounds of extra activity. You'll be calmer and happier and the Season just may become a little brighter.

• Breathe—Take the time to pay attention to your breathing. Most of the time, especially when we are busy running around from place to place and activity to activity, we breathe too shallowly to provide the oxygen our bodies need and it keeps us anxious and feeling stressed. By focusing on your breathing you allow the nervous system to relax and your breath will become fuller and deeper, your mind will become calmer and more focused, allowing you to be at your best for whatever your day brings.
• Stretch—Have you ever watched a dog stretch by extending it's forelimbs out on the floor and pressing backward? Or watched a cat arch it's back up to the ceiling until it's claws were barely touching the floor? Many yoga postures, such as the Cat Stretch or Downward-facing Dog, were named after animals because they know instinctively what we have forgotten. A good, long luxurious stretch lengthens muscle and stretches connective tissue, opens up the joints of the body and feels great. Before heading out to buy the tree take five minutes to stretch your body:
  • Lift up to the balls of the feet as you reach the arms up overhead as if to touch the ceiling.
  • Bend to one side and then the other.
  • Bend forward from the hips, round the back allowing your hands to slowly reach for the floor, rounding through your spine.
  • Get down on all fours and arch your back up to the ceiling.
  Move slowly and carefully. Effective stretching takes a little time. Rushing is not effective and may cause injury. Don't bounce. Keep your knees soft. Breathe and relax into the stretch and hold as long as comfortable, perhaps 15 to 30 seconds.
• Relax—When the rush of the season starts to get the best of you and threatens your peace of mind, you and your family can take a mini-vacation – without going anywhere.
  • Go to the quietest, most comfortable room in the house.
  • Lower the shades and dim the lights.
  • Turn off any TV or radio. If there are noises you can't eliminate you might turn on some very soft, relaxing music.
  • Loosen any restrictive clothing and lie on the floor on your back. Let yourself soften into the floor. Become aware of your breathing.
  • Then bring your attention to your right leg and tighten every muscle in the leg from the toes to the hip. Lift the leg an inch or two. Hold it tight, perhaps to a count of ten, and then let it soften back to the floor.
  • Do the same for the left leg then the right arm and the left arm in turn.
  • Move your jaw and then clench your teeth. Frown, drawing your face forward as if toward the tip of the nose. Hold the tension for a count of ten and then relax.
  • Finally bring your attention to the abdomen, about where the belly-button is. On an exhale begin to draw the navel back toward the spine, tightening the muscles. Let it spread outward until the entire trunk is tensed and hold for a count of 10 and then relax your entire body completely.
  • Bring your attention back to your breathing before sitting up again.
  As you go through this exercise allow a moment in between tightening each body part to just feel whatever sensations are present. Take your time getting up. Relax and breathe and take this calmness into your busy schedule.

When we learn techniques for self-health, relaxation, and inner fulfillment, we can navigate life’s challenges with a little more ease. Deepak Chopra, an expert on mind/body medicine, recommends walking and yoga as the ideal combination for strengthening and balancing the body. Yoga’s stretching and strengthening exercises and the breathing and relaxation techniques vastly improve the quality of life and health for all.