Kids can have some really big emotions and their anxieties and fears can take over and make it hard for them to manage. A big hug from people they love can really help to decrease some of the overwhelm. Pair that hug with the encouragement to hug the big feelings into you and bam there can be a sense of relief.

Looking to gain some calm, learn new tools or explore meditation and mindfulness? Here are 3 apps I love! Headspace https://www.headspace.com/ Mindshift https://www.anxietycanada.com/resources/mindshift-cbt/ Virtual hope box https://play.google.com › details Virtual Hope Box – Apps on Google Play Disclaimer: these tips are not meant to replace therapy. If you are looking for support for yourself or a family member I encourage you to reach out.

Here is a tool I love to use to teach kids about feelings @kimochis. Feelings are important because they provide language around what we are feeling and our feelings influence how we behave. So many great benefits to teaching our kids about their feelings. It can be fun to learn about our feelings. At the end I share 3 games to play. Also, check out these resources: - www.kimochis.com Dr. Daniel Siegal - name it to tame it -https://youtu.be/ZcDLzppD4Jc @journey to wellness how are you feeling chart https://www.etsy.com/.../jumbo-feelings-chart-journey-to...

Ever given yourself a timeout?? Taking that break when you are feeling overwhelmed can allow you to bring yourself back down to calm. This break can be encouraged whether you are getting overwhelmed OR if you see someone else getting overwhelmed (your partner or your child). 3 things to remember: 1. Be aware of your own emotional level 2. Take a time out - tell the other person you need a few minutes to yourself 3. do an activity that will calm you down Looking for ideas of what to do when you are overwhelmed? Go check out this video on grounding tools https://youtu.be/YAKwoJC7Yi0 Flipping your lid Daniel Siegal https://youtu.be/gm9CIJ74Oxw Thanks for watching! Disclaimer: these tips are not meant to replace therapy. If you are looking for support for yourself or a family member I encourage you to reach out. www.angelajanscounselling.com

There are a variety of benefits to practicing gratitude. In this video I have mentioned only a few so go check out the article linked below on Positive Psychology. Disclaimer: these tips are not meant to replace therapy. If you are looking for support for yourself or a family member I encourage you to reach out. Here is the article that mentions the benefits of gratitude. Scroll to the bottom for a list of the various ways the researchers had investigated the benefits of gratitude. They share a few more tips on implementing gratitude too. https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-gratitude.../

Assisting our kids (and ourselves) to deep breathe can be fun! Rollercoaster breathing or finger breathing is a great way to teach kids tools to bring on the calm. You can introduce this to toddlers (I taught this to my son when he was 3). One important note: teach this when you and they are in a calm state then bring it out when big feelings come out.

Grounding is a great way to shift the focus from unhelpful thinking especially if you find yourself in a thought tornado. What is a thought tornado? it starts out with one thought and continues to spiral often with "what ifs" about the past and/or future. Grounding can help distract your mind if it seems like the thoughts are taking over your day, making it hard to focus or making it hard to go to sleep. These grounding techniques fall into 3 areas: 1. Mental Grounding 2. Soothing Grounding and 3. Physical Grounding Here is the link to the handout I use ALL the time in counselling from Winona State University: https://www.winona.edu/resilience/Media/Grounding-Worksheet.pdf If you think these tools may be helpful for another person I encourage you to share this video with them so they can get a bite size introduction into grounding tools as well! Here's to a calm mind, being in the present moment, and taking care of our mental wellness! Thanks for watching! Disclaimer: these tips are not meant to replace therapy. If you are looking for support for yourself or a family member I encourage you to reach out.

Helping our kids to cope and calm down doesn’t have to be complicated, we can make it into some creative and fun games. Name the rainbow is one way to utilize our strong sense of sight and increase our awareness of our surroundings which helps to ground ourselves in the present moment. One important note is to practice this with your kids when they are feeling calm a few times. What this does is create muscle memory so when they are feeling overwhelmed or anxious it is easier to bring this tool back to mind. Wonder about ways to revise this? Here are a few other ways: - Repeat name the rainbow 3 times - Find your favorite color around the space - Name everything around that is the cold green - Name 5 of each color I hope this can be a fun game you add into your day with your kids. Have fun! Disclaimer: these tips are not meant to replace therapy. If you are looking for support for yourself or a family member I encourage you to reach out. www.angelajanscounselling.com