Six tips to supporting big emotions in our children and us.

“The answer is found in the emotion, not being free from the emotion.”

Headspace.

And that is what I have been focusing on in March! On my socials I have shared heaps of tips, tools and free downloads on hot to...

• Listen to, talk about and process our emotions.

• Support our children with their big emotions so they can self-regulate BUT make the whole process fun and easy!

• As adults tap into our emotions instead of tapping out!

I have rounded all these tips, tools and free downloads up in my latest blog which you can check below. I hope you enjoy giving these all a go and do let me know which ones you like best!!

Tip #1 - it’s all in connecting to the breath in a fun way! Click on the post to watch the video poppy and I took! This is one of our fav go-to breathing props to help slow down and calm big emotions!

Tip #2 - a breathing exercise for us as adults! When we get stressed, frustrated, angry this is a good go to breathing exercise to bring quick calm to our big emotions!

Tip #3 - It’s never too young to start practicing deep breathing! It’s just all about making it age appropriate! So with the really little ones spend time breathing with things that move when they breathe out!

• Leaves

• Bubbles

• Flowers

They love it, it calming and it’s beautiful connection with you! Josh and I spend a good 10mins blowing dandelions yesterday afternoon and we were both so calm and happy!!!

I gave him lots of praise and he was so proud of his big breaths!

Tip #4 - checking in not tapping out! As adults how can we can check in with our emotions? We lead very busy lives constantly plugged in so how can we unplug, check in with ourselves and listen to our emotions??!! Here is how....

Tip #5 - physically helping our children move through their emotions!

To support our children with their emotions a great place to start is talking to them about emotions and where in their body they feel those emotions. For example...

• Where in your body do you feel anger? I feel it in my throat and hands. Where in your body do you feel sadness? I feel it in my tummy and my heart.

• Why do we do this??

We can only release and move through emotions if we feel into them physically and mentally. When we notice where the emotion is sitting physically (hands, tummy, chest, throat) we can then use our breath to release this emotion.

Want a fun and VERY effective FREE step by step process to do the above with your children?

Grab your FREE download here.....

The F.L.O.W.E.R Process.pdf

Download PDF • 238KB

Tip #6 - physically processing our adult emotions!

How good are we at tapping out or away from our big emotions, ignoring them, pushing them down, making ourselves so busy we don't have the time to check in! I know I am guilty of all those things, is anyone else with me??

Something I know to be extremely effective in tapping into, unpacking and therefore moving through emotions (and I have to be totally honest I resisted this for a VERY long time) is JOURNALING!

If you are like me you and are thinking - yeah, yeah I've heard that it's good, but it's not really for me. Can I ask you to try it? Just once, and see what happens?

I starting journaling consistently mid last year and you know what came out of it??? A new business! Yep, I launched Mamma Nurture from meditating and journaling!!!

But let's make it fun and easy! Follow these simple steps....

1. Go and treat yourself to a gorgeous journal and pen this weekend (and hide them both away so the kids cannot draw all over it!!).

2. Find ten minutes in your day and mark this time out for journaling (you might find you get totally hooked, like I did, and need half an hour!)

3. It can be really daunting looking at a blank page, here are some starter sentences to get your thoughts and emotions flowing onto the page.... **Today I am feeling... **Today I am grateful for... **The emotion I am feeling right now is...

Some days you will have lots to write and some days there might be nothing and that's ok too! I really hope you find journaling can become part of your daily routine and help you process those big emotions and check in. You never know what might arise.

So in summary, we can support big emotions through...

• The power of the breath and using that breath to take us out of fight and flight and move us into calm and relaxation.

• Physically recognise and process our emotions

• Making sure we tap into not out of our emotions and take time to do this every day with mindful moments.

Wait one more thing....if you enjoy these few tips and tools then you will definately like me Must Have Guide to Supporting Big Emotions! It is filled with easy to watch and digest videos for you filled with simple and effective tools and techniques that you and your children will love to help with all the emotions we go through! AND it's ONLY $27!!!! Head here for more info - www.amindfulstart.com/parents-and-families