5 Mindful Breathing Exercises for Children
BY ADMIN PUBLISHED March 18, 2024, UPDATED January 1, 1970
Are you worried about your child being caught up in a tornado of emotions? Do you feel scared seeing their tiny chests rising and falling with each heartbeat? If you nod yes to both these questions, it's time for you to understand the reason behind this and find a solution for your little ones. Unlike usually believed, children find expressing their emotions as challenging as an adult and sometimes even more. It implies that they may be caught up in an emotional storm of all these pent-up feelings, resulting in nervousness and restlessness. Yes, even kids can experience anxiety, so as a parent, you have to find the right way out for them. It is where the best breathing exercises for children can help.
Mindful breathing exercises designed for children are extremely helpful for children to deal with the hustle and bustle of childhood. These exercises are trusted by top mental well-being professionals and even educational institutions like Delhi Public School Ghaziabad.
Significance of Breathing Exercises for Children
Before exploring which are the most appropriate exercises, understanding their benefits is paramount. Below are their most significant effects:
- Maintains optimum heart rate
- Relaxes the body
- Improves concentration
- Reduces or eliminates stress and anxiety
- Enhances the body's oxygen levels
All these effects together contribute to providing a calming effect that helps get rid of restlessness caused by the tangle of emotions. It is important to note here that these exercises are not only meant for children with visible signs of anxiety. Instead, every child must practise them to enhance their emotional well-being and concentration.
Reading about the positive effects of these exercises for children must have made you a lot more excited to make your child practise them, right? Learn the top five in this guide's next section.
5 Best Breathing Exercises for Children
Young children often become disinterested in physical activities when starting them off. So, instead of a boring routine, introduce these breathing exercises to your children as fun activities and practise with them daily or at least initially to motivate them. Below are some of the most effective and fun breathing exercises for children that will help them enhance focus while inducing calmness.
Belly Breathing
One of the most effective and easy to practise breathing activities to promote mindfulness is Belly Breathing. It can be practised daily by following these steps:
- Start belly breathing exercise by having your child lie on his or her back with their hands lightly placed over their belly and count to eight while slowly inhaling through their nose.
- After holding their breath as they count to two, they'll slowly release it either through nostrils or mouths while counting up to five.
Dragon Breathing
Dragon Breathing is another reliable mindfulness breathing exercise for students and it can be done by following the below listed steps.
- To start with this exercise, ask your child to sit or kneel with their head looking forward. Make sure they sit straight with their spine tall, shoulder back and chest high.
- Now, ask them to close their eyes and keep their mouth closed.
- After this, they have to silently count to 8 in their mind while breathing in slowly.
- Ask them to hold the air in while counting to 2.
- After this, they have to count to 5 in their mind while breathing out through a wide open mouth with their tongue sticking out like a dragon does while releasing fire from its mouth.
Rainbow Breathing
Rainbow Breathing is another name on this list which can be practised with the following steps.
- Make your child stand or sit tall with their arms stretched out at their sides.
- Now, they should breathe in from their nose as they count up to 8 and simultaneously move both hands over their head, creating a rainbow in the sky.
- With their hands above their head, they will hold in the air while counting silently to 2.
- Now, ask them to breathe out while counting to 5 silently and bringing their hands down to their sides, making a rainbow.
Read Also - Importance of Extracurricular Activities for Students
Flower and Candle Breathing
Another fun breathing exercise to promote mindfulness in children is Flower and Candle Breathing. It involves the following steps.
- Instruct your child to sit or kneel with their head in a vertical position, facing forward. Ensure they are sitting straight, back up and chest out.
- Give them an actual flower (or have them pretend), and encourage them to inhale its aroma deeply.
- Make them exhale air through their mouth to extinguish an imaginary candle, as an exercise to practise breathing control and breath control skills.
Buddy Breathing
Buddy Breathing is another exciting activity in this list of the most effective exercises for children to promote mindfulness. It can be practised by following the below-given steps.
- Find a buddy for your child and ask them both to lie on the floor next to each other. Here, you can also become their buddy.
- Now, the buddy will either place their hand or head on your child's belly.
- As your little one slowly breathes in and out, they will pay attention to the movement of their buddy's head or hand.
- This can be done turn by turn or a child can even practise it on their own.
In a Nutshell
Paying attention to the emotional well-being of children is essential to enhance their life quality and promote mindfulness. The best breathing exercises for children, as listed in this post, help with this and offer several other benefits for a child's mental health and overall development.
Delhi Public School Ghaziabad has strong faith in all-round child development. We also comprehend the importance of their emotional health to their overall development. As a result, our teachers and mentors encourage each student to involve the best mindfulness breathing exercises for students in their routine.
