Relaxation

“It's a good idea always to do something relaxing prior

to making an important decision in your life.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage

Hello everyone! It's summer, the time for relaxing and enjoying your time!
Why relaxation is so important in the process of pre-school age children education? See below my opinion on it...

  Preschool aged children usually are very active physically, emotionally and intellectually. This is normal and there is nothing bad about it.

Sometimes children feel stress because of some family issues or because of the peer pressure; sometimes they have pressure of living up to the expectations of their parents and teachers and cannot cope with all this stuff. Sometime children just get a bit crazy during the lesson and there should be something to stop it.

          So, the interesting thing I found during the learning in the university that there are some mystique relaxation techniques that could help children to feel better, to maintain normal breathing and achieve complete relaxation of their body and mind. Do you believe in that? I was sceptical until  I tried the following activities with my students:

Deep breathing or meditation. Let children choose their favourite colour and take in a slow breath.  As they breathe in, they imagine the colour they are breathing in. As they breathe out, they imagine the colour they are breathing out. This fun activity really makes amazing things with the children, they enjoy this activity and their emotional charge becomes less active, their bodies and minds relax.

Laughing. This amazing thing is so easy to do but so effective. Laughing relaxes most of the facial muscles. This could be achieved by reading an interesting book, playing different table games or making silly jokes or clowning around the children. The chemicals released in the through laughing reduce tension and pain in the body.

Massage. A few minutes of head massage will make miracles for a child. Children become less active; they follow each other and inspect each other thus having an alternative way of communication via mimics. This activity relaxes the whole body of the child.

Visualization. This activity is fun! I like to do it with my students regularly. The children sit on the chair comfortably; they close their eyes and imagine that they see a fly that wants to land on their face. The child should scary the fly by moving the face parts without opening the eyes. This activity makes children concentrate on one thing only, calm their breathing and relax all the body and still everybody laughs.

          I am still learning and searching for new relaxation methods. The bunch of the above state activities is just a drop in a bucket. I will share with you my new findings as soon as I get them.

Stay stress-free and relaxed; enjoy your time!

Regards,

Inna