Square breathing. Things to do at home to control stress and emotions

Home page
News
Square breathing. Things to do at home to control stress and emotions

Do you ever wonder what day of the week it is? We run from task to task, trying to execute our plans and meet expectations, whilst trying to not go crazy. Sometimes we explode because we feel too much tension and we lack perspective. Life can irritate children too. Try two simple exercises together and see if it gets easier for you to live in the moment.

Big and small stones– training attention.

Mindfulness exercises are a pleasant way to calm down and establish peaceful contact. This activity can be done with pre-schoolers and with older children. It also perfectly calms down adults.

If you have any pebbles at home, collect them in a bag. Tangerines, other fruits, cups, spoons or kitchen cloths will work as well. The idea is that each participating household member should have the same type of object. Sit comfortably, each with their own pebble or object in hand. Do the exercise, we all have our own stones now. Holding them, consider the following questions without saying anything yet: what does it feel like? Can you feel its temperature? Is it cool? Smooth or rather rough? Can you feel its weight in your hand?

Carefully, take the stone in one hand now. Stretch out both your hands in front of you. Can you feel the tension in your hand muscles? Now squeeze the stone in your hand. Can you feel its hardness? Does it resist your pressure or not? If you tighten your hand more, will the stone change its shape, bend under pressure? What is its temperature? Is it warmer than at the beginning of the exercise? Is it the same? Does it have any smell? What sound do you hear when you tap the stone gently with your finger?

Right here, right now.

You can expand this exercise and encourage the household members to look at their objects very carefully after opening their eyes. They should say what colour and shape they are and whether they have any special traits. After a moment of observation, ask them to put stones or other objects that you were touching during the exercise in the bag, then mix them and take them out. Did you find the one you were holding a moment ago? How long did you manage to be here and now?

Home page
News
Square breathing. Things to do at home to control stress and emotions

Square breathing

With a barrage of things to do, you might sometimes lose patience faster and explode. You can probably observe this in your child, as well as in yourself. The solution is square... breathing. Breathing has the extraordinary power of regulating our emotions. We can use it to energise ourselves, to relax or to influence the intensity of emotions experienced. In addition, it helps us regain concentration and self-control and become more aware of what we’re experiencing.

Breath is one of the signals that inform our brain about our condition and about what we are currently going through.

The first step to recognising and paying attention to emotions. That might be taking a deep breath and focusing on what we feel. In difficult situations or in shock, we tend to stop breathing and when we start breathing again, we usually do it too fast and shallowly. Mark Miller, a former commando, has developed a technique of tactical breathing (square breathing): 1. Breathe in with your nose so that the air pushes your stomach out, counting to four. 2. Hold your breath, counting to four. 3. Breathe out slowly and pull in your gut, counting to four. 4. Hold your breath and count to four.

This type of breathing helps increase mindfulness, concentration and reduces the level of anxiety and stress. This may be an introduction to looking into what has upset or disturbed us.

All source materials are prepared by the team of Kulczyk Foundation’s Education Department in cooperation with teachers and experts – pedagogists, psychologists and cultural experts – and verified by an experienced family therapist Kamila Becker. Kinga Kuszak, PhD, Professor of Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Educational Studies, provides content-related supervision over Kulczyk Foundation’s educational materials. All materials are covered by the content patronage of the Faculty of Educational Studies of Adam Mickiewicz University.

The article was published on 08.04.2020 on the website of Instytut Dobrego Życia (Good Life Institute)

Authors: Dorota Szkodzińska (Kulczyk Foundation) and Anna Woźniak (Instytut Dobrego Życia)