Calming our Minds and Bodies: Yoga, Stretching & Breathing Activities

Deep Breathing Exercises for Thoughtful Thursday

Learning deep breathing exercises helps keep us healthy by exercising our minds and our lungs. It is beneficial for both children and adults as it helps to: decrease stress, reduce anxiety, sustain attention, increase your focus to learn, slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, helps to control your emotions, and promotes a feeling of happiness. (https://www.yourtherapysource.com/)

Photo of a boy blowing dandelion seeds.

Learning deep breathing techniques can be fun.

  • You could follow along with Mariam Gates, the author of “Breathe with Me”, as she reads her book and demonstrates the breathing techniques you can try through her story, Breathe With Me – Guided Breathing Meditation for Kids
  • Try the Rainbow Breath technique from Go Noodle, incorporating movement and breathing to bring energy and calmness to our day.
  • The Bumble Bee breathing technique is another strategy to learn deep breathing, requiring no equipment. Simply place your hands gently over your ears, to block out any outside noises. Then, breathe in deeply and as you slowly exhale, saying “Bzzzzzzzzzzzz” for as long as you can (you can also say “hmmmmmmm”, if you prefer). Repeat this several times until you feel relaxed. Challenge yourself to exhale for longer amounts of time, each time.

Other games to encourage deep breathing include:

  • Blowing feathers in the air. How long can you keep the feather up in the air?
  • Lying on your stomach and blowing a ping pong ball across the floor, from one end to the other. Make it a game, by creating a “net” using two small objects and trying to get the ball through the “net”.
  • You could try blowing small pieces of tissue paper from one end of a table to the other, without it falling off. Make it a game and challenge a family member.