Our two-year-old granddaughter Molly is tired. It is 3:30 pm, and she will have to wait until bedtime to go to sleep. We’re in my car, and my cousin calls to chat. My cousin is one of my favorite people, but she is a talker. We talk for a half hour, and the little one falls asleep. When our phone call is over, Molly is screaming. I pat her back, talk to her calmly, walk her around, with no success. I pull out my tablet and show her a preschool number game. It’s very well designed, with colorful graphics and silly sound effects. After about ten minutes, Molly starts to follow the game. She touches the screen and giggles. I copy the silly sounds. Before we know it, we are laughing boisterously from our bellies.

Deep belly laughter delivers oxygen from the diaphragm to the whole body. Open airwaves are associated with joy and open hearts.

The opposite of deep belly laughter is shallow breathing. When we are stressed, our breathing is shallow. One way we can respond to stress and distraction is to use breathing as an anchor and consciously deepen it. This is a common tool used in meditation.  Breathing is portable and available to all ages and settings.

Here are some procedures you can use with kids of 9 and above:

Breathing Into the Back

Setting: Home
When:
Every morning
Amount of time: 5 minutes

Proper breathing helps keep the back strong. This can also improve posture.

• Put a small piece of tape as a marker between the child’s shoulder blades over the top of the spine. The tape should be about one inch above the bottom of the shoulder blade.
• Have the child lie on a bed or other padded flat surface with a pillow under her head.
• Tell her to breathe so that she feels her breath expanding against the tape.
• Do this for five minutes.

Learning to Breathe into the Belly

Setting: Anywhere
When/How often: Daily
Amount of time: 5 minutes

Shallow breathing can contribute to anxiety and panic attacks. The best practice is to breathe deeply into the lungs, extending the abdomen and pushing out the belly in the process.

• Have the child place one hand on his/her check and the other on his/her belly.
• As he/she breathes, he/she notices how his/her hands move.
• The hand on his/her belly should move the most.
• Time the inhale and exhale to the exhale lasts longer than the inhale by a second or two.

Breathing into the Back Method for Teens

• Have the child sit in a chair.
• Tell him/her to keep his/her spine still by keeping the back neck muscles and pelvis muscles rigid as he/she breathes.
• Breathe at a normal rate, deeply into the back.

Chest Breathing for Teens

When: 3 times per day
Amount of Time: A few minutes

Here is an even better way to deepen one’s breathing. It is a bit complicated, so use this procedure for older children. Be sure that the child is not wearing a tight elastic belt at the waist that might restrict good breathing.

• Have the child put one hand on his/her belly and the other on his/her chest.
• Tell him/her to breathe through his/her nose into his belly, extending the lower abdomen.
  the hand moves as the belly fills up.
• He/she should inhale slowly for 3-4 seconds and then exhale for 4-6 seconds.
• As he/she breathes, he/she notices how his/her hands move.
• The hand on his/her belly should move the most.

Link to Infographic: https://www.easel.ly/infographic/8pqr66

Reference:

Garland, Teresa. “Chapter 2: Staying Calm and Alert; Interventions .” Self-Regulation Interventions and Strategies: Keeping the Body, Mind & Emotions on Task in Children with Autism, Adhd or Sensory Disorders, PESI Publishing & Media, 2014, pp. 35–37.