Top Tips for Relaxing

If you are having trouble getting your child to relax, try these 5 relaxation exercises created by Relax Kids.

1 Sleepy Starfish
Lie down on your back with your legs and arms apart. Stay very still and imagine you are a sleepy starfish resting at the bottom of the ocean. Breathe in and as you breathe out, relax you arms. Breathe in and as you breathe out, relax your legs, breathe in and as you breathe out, relax your head. See how still you can be at the bottom of the ocean, resting like a sleepy starfish. Repeat to yourself ‘I am silent, I am silent’.

2 Squeeze and Relax
Take in a deep breath and as you breathe in, squeeze all the muscles in you body. Now, breathe out and relax all the muscles in your body. Repeat this exercise 2 - 3 times.

3 Bubble Breaths
Imagine you are blowing bubbles of peace or happiness or love into the room. Take in a breath and imagine you have a pot of bubble liquid. Slowly and gently blow bubbles into the room. As you blow out the bubbles, imagine they are filled with peace and the whole room is filling up with peace. Do you feel peaceful?

4 Elastic Band
Close your eyes, be very still and imagine your body is a piece of elastic. Just relax to start with and enjoy being a floppy piece of elastic. Allow your legs to be floppy and relaxed, let your arms be floppy and relaxed, let your stomach be floppy and relaxed and finally, let your neck and head be floppy and relaxed. Now very slowly imagine someone is very gently tugging your head and someone else is pulling your feet at the same time. And the elastic is becoming tighter. Your muscles are becoming more taut. Your whole body is getting longer and longer. Enjoy this wonderful stretching feeling as you are growing longer. Then ... ping....let all the muscles in your body relax as the elastic band is released. Relax back to being a floppy bendy piece of elastic again. Enjoy this wonderful feeling of being totally relaxed and floppy.
Extract from Shining Stars CD


5 Big Balloon
Close your eyes, be very still and imagine that you are holding a big balloon. It is very light. It feels very smooth. The balloon is in your favourite colour. Now hold the bottom of your balloon, and feel the balloon gently rising into the sky. Each time you breathe in and out, you gently glide further and further into the warm summer sky. The deeper your breath is, the further you can travel. Enjoy this feeling of weightlessness. Enjoy the feeling of being completely free. Your body feels weightless and free and your mind feels totally free.
Extract from Nature CD and Relax and Dream DvD