Tips to help create balance and reduce stress for kids
- To help children relax and fall asleep when you put them to bed, use guided imagery. For instance, tell them to imagine they're riding on a pink cloud and to slowly look at the people on the ground and at everything around them as they gently float along in the sky.
- Use limericks or funny poems to encourage children to solve a problem.
- Don't react. Don't fight back. Instead, "break" the stressed out energy with humor or a loving touch.
- Be the Bigger Soul. If your child is exhibiting anger due to stress, look beneath it. Is she sad? Frustrated? Hurt? Lonely? Tired? If so, deal with the underlying emotion since anger can be the "convenient" emotion when it comes to stress.
- Water works! Soothe your child with water. Take a bath, take a swim, have a water balloon fight. "A family that plays together stays together."
- First things first. Both you and your child will benefit from honestly assessing what is the most important thing that needs to be handled and then develop a simple strategy to tackle it. Be sure to include self-care as one of your items. It may be what needs to be handled first so other things can be more easily managed.
About Beth Wilson
Beth Wilson is a best-selling author, Host of the #1 Internet radio show, Quantum Leaps, and an Integrative Life Coach. Her active involvement with parenting and women's issues, as well as personal growth and change, gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing women and families today.
Author of the best-selling books, Meditations For New Mothers, Meditations For Mothers Of Toddlers, Meditations During Pregnancy, Restoring Balance To A Mother's Busy Life and Creating Balance In Your Child's Life translated into 12 different languages, distributed worldwide. Beth is currently finishing her latest book, He's Just No Good For You: A Guide To Leaving A Destructive Relationship, due for release in January 2009.
In addition to writing books, Beth is a successful life skills coach. She works with people from all walks of life to help them create new paths and methods of expressing their talents. Beth also is the host of "Quantum Leaps," a popular Internet radio talk show offering listeners a new path for self-empowerment that airs on Voice America.
Based in Mountain View, Calif., and the mother of three children, Beth enjoys distance swimming, film and traveling in her spare time.
For more information, visit www.bethwilsonlifecoach.com
To listen to Beth's radio show, visit www.modavox.com/VoiceAmerica
