Things You'll Need:
- A child
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Step 1
The easiest way to teach is from the beginning with your newborn. Allow your newborn to lie against you so that you are heart to heart. Notice how the pace of their breathing is different from yours. Take your newborn and hold them so that their face is against yours in a way that you can feel their breath. Begin to breathe slowly and deeply and observe the reaction of your baby. You will notice that the baby will become more still and melt into you. They are drawn to this deep calming breath. Allow yourself to breath audibly. An ocean type sound....Your baby is likely to take in some deep sighs and fall asleep. It is amazing...even if the baby is fussy.
For an older child teach them to blow up their belly like a balloon when they take a deep breath in. Have them put their hand on their belly and to feel the belly move out when they inhale and collapse when they exhale. Trying to be aware of the air going in and out of the nose is also a neat exercise that kids enjoy. -
Step 2
Decide when and how you are going to use the breathing with your child or infant. If you develop a routine, this is a discipline that will benefit your child immensely. If you ask your child to try the belly breathing before a tantrum... the tantrum will not happen, your child will learn that the breathing makes them feel better. If your child has trouble being quiet focusing on the breathing meditation will do it... and as an added benefit they will feel in control. Children who do a short meditation are able to sit without distraction which is always demanded of them in a classroom setting. They will learn better and that confidence will be the seed of many successes.
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Step 3
Be a good role model for breathing. Just seeing you breathing and understanding how it helps will be the greatest teaching of all.
Comments
Jolocol said
on 8/2/2009 Suggestions given here are very good. The entire body can be relaxed through breathing. It is great for children to learn this while they are young.
SHANTELH said
on 11/13/2008 uhh,woow,its nice to see you have this side to shine like the sun right to another to write articles that matters for readers.Well i'm a first time mother and my daugther is much too young to be disaplined ,but shse has a great role model,or should i say that as in plurals.I am a singer/songwriter/college student of three three different schools not all at once in two now enrolled to star the third spring of 2009 for music major ,industry.
carlette said
on 11/10/2008 Love this article. My 10 year old daughter get's angry very easily, I will definately have her do these breathing exercises, as well as do them myself.
Thanks!
writesource said
on 9/19/2008 Excellent advise! I have successfully used deep breathing to help my children center their minds. It really does help them stay calm and focussed. But it never occurred to me to try it on an infant. It makes sense though, the earlier the better. I'll try it on my 9 month old. Thanks!
luv2blog said
on 9/15/2008 Good article.