Helping a 6 year old release fear and sleep better!

An easy way to help a scared child let go of anxiety…

Helping a 6 year old release fear and sleep better by using mindfulness tools to reduce anxiety and stress was the intention of one of our Connected Kids Tutors. This idea and the experience was so inspirational we had to share!

“She was crying very hard.  Agitated and scared.  She was having trouble catching her breath.  We took tiny sips of air, put our hands on our tummy and then took deeper and deeper breaths until we could fill our tummies and breathed out very, very, very slowly. 

She was too scared to close her eyes so we just tried to think of a big orange balloon.  We held onto our balloon really tight.  Then I asked her to tell me what it was that scared her.  She told me what it was.  I told her to take it in her other hand and then put her hand deep into the big orange balloon and let it go.  I guided her to take her hand out very slowly.  then to tell me something else she hated… 

We did this until she was completely calm.  Then I blew out 2 big slow breaths into the balloon.  I asked her to do the same and she did.  I said how about two more each?  She said yes and we practised together. 

Then we both pushed the balloon really hard into outer space, far, far away where they could never scare her again.  I was about to do some more breathing to end our session and she asked if we could do another balloon a rainbow balloon to put in her heart.  WOW!!!  What a smart girl. 

So we did.  We picked 5 of our favourite things and put them into our balloon, then put it in our hearts. 

I asked her to feel her toes, how did they feel.  She wiggled them.  I asked her how her body felt.  She said it felt good.”  

Jo-Anne Ross, Connected Kids Tutor – Canada

The fantastic work of our tutor, demonstrates how simple it is to help this 6 year old release fear and sleep better simply by using mindfulness tools to reduce anxiety and stress.

Effective Mindful Tools

The feedback from this young girl (as well as helping her sleep) demonstrates how quickly children respond when we give them mindful tools. Helping this 6 year old release fear and sleep better with some simple meditation tools.

“After the (meditation) I felt really good.  Felt really good in my heart.  My arms were getting tired from holding the balloon.  Very happy when we got a rainbow balloon with my favourite things in it.  I did one more at the end that was the entire Earth.  And now I feel really really strong.” 

Ariana, 6

In our Connected Kids programme we nurture that intuitive, creative ability so that Tutors can create a child-centered approach to teaching meditation – ensuring it works effecively with children of all ages, abilities and experiences.

Still looking for answers?

Speak to an expert…if you need to talk, please remember you can Connect to us.  Lorraine E Murray, founder of the Connected Kids programme, offers connect calls to help you find out more.