Calming & Coping Strategies
Season 1 - Episode 9
Recognizing your emotional state and naming emotions is the first step to taming them. Next, learning how to neutralize those “big feelings” is the key to returning to calm. This episode includes various coping mechanisms you can start using TODAY.
This is not an all-inclusive list of strategies but a great place to start! These tips help to neutralize your nervous system and get you out of your Emotional Brain, back into your Thinking Brain. Any of these calming strategies can be used with kids or adults.
Breathing. It can be used to calm down or gain energy. So many fun techniques that kids will LOVE.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation. I call it the tense and release strategy. You can make this one fun for kids! My favorite…the Turtle Shell.
Shaking or dancing…..just moving your body. Fun Fact included about how animals use shaking!
Sing, hum, listen to slow-beat or nature music. All of these activate the vagus nerve and bring you back to neutral.
Humor & laughter. It truly is the best medicine.
Mindfulness and meditation. Just a few minutes a day can make a HUGE difference.
Change your position. From sit to stand to stretch to yoga.
Acupressure points. Many simple moves to help reduce stress, tension, and anxiety.
Tai-Chi or Qigong. Easy moves for everyone!
Gratitude Practice. This practice can completely flip your state from stressed to calm. I discuss how to use this with kids, too.
Resistance work. Lifting anything with weight shifts your emotional state.
Pinterest and Google are wonderful resources to find options for these various techniques. Search for calming, coping, grounding strategies. Use some when feeling stressed or daily as a preventative measure. Doing both is the Top-Down Bottom-Up Approach (link below).
The Behavior Hub blog includes various calming strategies:
Top-Down / Bottom-Up Approach to Emotional Regulation
5 Super Easy Steps to Creating a Calm Down Space
5 Breathing Exercises for your Kiddo
Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Kids
Lauren answers this week’s listener question: I’m worried about a child getting injured or injuring someone else, or that I do something incorrectly and escalate a situation. I’m not sure what to do. Do you have any advice?
Lauren also gives advice including how to use her Taco Technique. Touch, breathing, and movement are the key.
Try at home tip: 5 More Brain Foods
Behavior question for a future episode? Email questions to podcast@thebehaviorhub.com or text to 717-693-7744.
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Find all the answers here: The Behavior Hub Blog
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