First, let’s learn 2 examples of coping skills. These skills can help with the physical components of anxiety (e.g., racing heart) as well as the cognitive component (e.g., worrying too much about the future).
The goal is not to get rid of anxiety – this would be impossible! Instead, the goal is to make anxiety more manageable so that your child can accomplish their life goals.
The two skills that we will learn are deep breathing and 5-4-3-2-1 grounding.
Deep Breathing
The first coping skills we will teach you is called deep breathing. Deep breathing is a great skill to learn because it can be practiced anywhere and at any time! When we feel anxious, our body activates the “fight or flight” system, speeding up our heart rate and breathing rate in order to get more oxygen in our body and prepare us to flee or fight (even when we are not in immediate physical danger).
Deep breathing works by purposely focusing on your breath and slowing it down. When we take deep breaths, we activate the part of the brain that helps calm us down (parasympathetic nervous system) making us feel relaxed.
There are several ways in which you can practice deep breathing, but for LUNA, we will present two ways to practice deep breathing, and your child can pick their favorite to practice. The child/teen materials will have videos to guide your child through deep breathing.
For both exercises, it is best if your child breathes with their diaphragm (into their stomach) as opposed to their upper chest.
Here are the scripts that you can use when you practice deep breathing skills.
Mindfulness with 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding
“Mindfulness” is often defined as “non-judgmental, present-moment awareness,” and is a great way to cope with anxiety. When we are anxious, our minds are on the future, rather than the present, and we make judgments about what could happen (i.e., something bad will happen). When we are really connected to the present, we have more control over our actions and thoughts, making it harder to be anxious, which is exactly what we are preparing for in the next weeks!
There are lots of great exercises that help kids become more aware of the present moment. These exercises are often called “grounding” or “mindfulness” exercises. We have chosen to teach one here, which is called “5-4-3-2-1.” In this exercise, your child will use all their senses to notice their surroundings.
This a worksheet for you and your child to use:
