Public Health
Survey

Help us improve our Health Website

Take 2-3 minutes to tell us what you are looking for today.

Your feedback will help us improve our site.

No thanks
Take the survey
Living > Public Health, Safety

Relaxation - Helping Children Cope with Stress

Relaxation helps the body and mind cope with stress. Relaxation techniques can help children focus on one thing for a longer period of time than they normally would. Your child can benefit from relaxation techniques such as physical activity, deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. These techniques have been shown to help resolve stress-related problems, such as tension, head-aches, anxiety, and nail biting.

Physical Activity

  • daily exercise or sports is a good way to release excess energy
  • some good examples are swimming, bicycling, jogging, walking, rollerblading, and team sports such as soccer and hockey
  • some activities strengthen the heart and lungs and tone the muscles

Deep Breathing

  • focusing and concentrating on breathing techniques helps reduce heart rate and blood pressure

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

  • Children can achieve relaxation by concentrating on relaxing specific muscle groups. This technique is called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR).
  • PMR involves tensing then relaxing all the major muscle groups in the arms, head, chest, back, stomach, and legs.
  • PMR can ease sleeping problems, headaches, and anxiety
  • PMR can also increase body awareness, which may help children have more control over their behaviour

Click here to learn the Guidelines for Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

Did you find what you were looking for today?