5 Calming Strategies for Any Age

Learning to calm and relax your body and mind is something we can all benefit from.  Sometimes dealing with heightened emotions can leave our bodies and minds on edge. However, finding ways to relax can help us learn ways to regain control of our emotions and refocus our thoughts to the present moment. When feeling stressed or overwhelmed, there are two things to focus on: relaxing the body and calming the mind.  Here are 5 calming strategies I have found beneficial. 

Take deep breaths

The whole of our being is connected to our breath.  In fact, breathing is essential to life. It is also the first thing to speed up or become difficult when we are in a state of emotional distress.  Taking deep, long breaths can help relax your body and release tension. 

For children, I often encourage them to pretend they are blowing out their birthday candles or bubbles.  This helps them refocus on their breathing to help their body relax. 

Complete a body scan

Close your eyes and pay attention to where you are feeling certain sensations in your body.  This can allow you to become aware of areas of tension or specific sensations you are experiencing in certain areas of your body.  Doing things such as progressive muscle relaxation can really be supportive in calming and relaxing the body.

For children, you can get them to lay down and wiggle each body part from their toes to their head, asking them to explain how each part feels.  This not only creates a little silliness, but it helps them become mindful of how their body feels.

Use Distraction Techniques

When experiencing worrying or anxious thoughts, it can be difficult to slow down the racing thoughts inside your head.  This is where distraction or grounding techniques come in. Singing songs can be a great distraction technique. Also trying to spell your name backward or count to 100 by 7s are simple tricks you can use to get your mind off of a distressing thought.  

For children and adults, grounding techniques can be powerful.  My favorite is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 strategy. This can be a fun game to play to allow children to take a break from the thoughts inside their minds.  We call out 5 things we see, 4 things we feel, 3 things we hear, 2 things we smell, and 1 thing we taste. This helps refocus the mind to bring it into the present moment.

Move

Moving your body can help release stored tension.  Go for a walk or run. Change the environment you are in.  Sometimes when you are frustrated just getting up and moving to another part of the house or building can provide the movement your body needs to release the feelings building up inside.  

For children, I love putting on a song and dancing.  This allows us to get out stored energy or pent up emotions.  I call this, “Getting the wiggles out.

Listen to Music

Music can be very calming.  Listening to mood opposite music can help tremendously in relaxing your mind and body.  Ever wonder why places like a massage therapy office have calming music playing? Well, listening to relaxing music can send signals to your brain to relax.  

For children, when listening to calming music I like to get them to imagine their calm or happy place.  With eyes closed, I encourage them to describe what it looks like and the ways it feels. This can help them find a place to go when distressing emotions arise.

There are many other strategies you can use, but these 5 calming strategies are my favorite.  Learning ways to calm your body takes practice, but once you are able to incorporate it into your daily habits you will find yourself being able to move through life’s stresses with less reactiveness and increased flexibility. 

Christy Pennison, LPC-S, is a board-certified professional counselor and owner of Be Inspired Counseling & Consulting. She provides counseling in Alexandria, LA, and online to Louisiana residents. She is passionate about inspiring hope through counseling to help individuals move forward and live fully.