Relaxation Training

• Many children with anxiety problems have a lot of body complaints. Sometimes, they have headaches and stomachaches or just general body pains. Other children may feel their heart racing or beating hard, may feel "butterflies" in their stomach, or feel hot and sweaty. Even though your child may be feeling these things because of anxiety, the feelings are still real. It is important to acknowledge that it is real pain and not just "in their head" and to express understanding for your child's discomfort.
• If your child has any of these symptoms, then teaching him how to relax his body may be useful. Relaxation tapes may help as well. Your child can listen and do them alone in his room. Here are some instructions on how to relax the body.

Abdominal Breathing:

• Have your child sit up or lie down in a comfortable, relaxed position
• Tell your child to take deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to a count of 5 each way
• Have them feel each of their muscle groups relaxing as they breath in and out- start from the feet and work slowly up to the scalp
• Encourage your child to practice this at night- but don't be too forceful about it or else it won't work.

Some children have thoughts that race through their head that they find hard to control. Here are some exercises to help your child practice when they are calm.

Relaxation: Relaxing the Mind

• Start relaxing the mind with first relaxing the body with deep breathing exercises
• Then tell your child to visualize a relaxing, calming place. Some examples could be the backyard, grandma's house, the beach
• Label this their "calm place"
• Ask them to tell you about everything they can imagine using all their five senses
• Your child may want to imagine someone with them in their "calm place"
• As with the relaxation exercises, encourage your child to practice this at night- but don't be too forceful about it or else it won't work