Worry Bubbles

creative kids' pranayama

“That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.”

– Chinese Proverb

Sometimes kids don’t want to talk about their worries; other times, they might talk about them in an imaginative kid sort of way. For a while, my daughter went through a phase where she would get upset and when I asked her what was wrong, she’d say it was a secret.

It kind of spooked me because I thought she didn’t feel comfortable sharing her thoughts and emotions with me. I kept thinking, what had I done to lose her trust? It went on for months, and then one day it occurred to me that maybe she meant that she just didn’t have the words for what she was feeling and she described that as being a ‘secret’ to her as well. I asked her if that’s what she meant, and bingo! My creative thinking brought me to a better understanding of her.

Sometimes, worries fly up into our minds and swirl around as thoughts, like bubbles blown around in the breeze of our imaginations. Other times, the feeling of worry sinks down into our knees or legs and makes us feel weak and ungrounded. When you find your little one stewing in worry, inquire a little bit: ask them what it feels like in their body (A tight throat? Butterflies in the stomach? Shallow breathing?).

They might not always be able to describe what they feel, and that’s when you can suggest a fun little activity, which I actually ended up doing with my daughter last night when she said she felt afraid at bedtime. I asked her to take a slow, deep breath in with me, then as we exhaled, we imagined blowing up a big bubble, filling it with whatever was worrying her. Maybe it’s the thought of the worry, an image of it, the sound/sight/smell of it, or even the way it makes us feel in our bodies. Then, once we finished the exhale, we pictured the bubble blowing away on a breeze.

We did it twice and her anxiety completely shifted into relaxation and readiness to sleep. I was actually astounded at how well it worked - I had done this activity with lots of kids in a classroom setting, but at bedtime it was nice to see it working its magic! You can do this with a nice, slow exhale to bring your little ones into a relaxed state or if it’s during the day you might find that your kids enjoy getting really dramatic and more forceful with the exhale. Try it at different times of the day and in different situations and you’ll see how your kid’s mood can put its own spin on it.

And guess what? It’s not just for kids. You can try it, too! 

By the way, I’m posting this a day late, once again, but I did think to put this into practice yesterday. I give myself a pat on the back for that:)

Every Friday I’ll post ideas and inspiration for practicing yoga with kids and every Tuesday I’ll share a micropractice that helps busy moms (and dads and kids, and really anyone) to incorporate brief yoga practices into their day. Here’s the post to kick off this biweekly series that will last until the end of the year!