A few days ago, I was faced with a dilemma…how to teach physical relaxation to a very active 9 year old. Mindfulness was not an option, deep breathing was “boring”, and coloring created frustration. So what to do!?! Well, the creative juices started flowing as I noted the client brought his fidget spinner, and I had mine. We started out with dueling…who could spin the fastest or the longest…then came the trick challenge. From the picture, you can guess how far this went! While figuring out how to balance the fidget spinner on our noses while spinning, my client said “relax your face, MaKayla”. Without much trouble, my client had connected that in order to find his balance point, he needed to relax his facial muscles.
In times of stress or discomfort, our body provides cues to this distress. For anxiety, people mention feeling muscle tightness/pain and stomach complaints. For irritability, people mention furrowed brows and jaw clenching. In most cases, people feel they have lost their balance points and are toppling out of control. Within counseling, one of our first steps is to identify the client’s physiological responses to their emotions. From there, individual coping skills can be identified and developed to decrease negative symptoms and help rebalance the client’s perspective and/or life.
So, if you find mindfulness meditation difficult and deep breathing “boring”, be creative…Are you up for the challenge?