Relaxation exercise for children and adults: methodology and technique

In a modern lifestyle, constant stressful situations, insomnia, anxiety and an active pace, it is very important to be able to relax not only for adults, but also for children. In the latter, by the way, adaptation to constantly changing environmental conditions is much more difficult. The most affordable and fastest way to relax is to perform a set of relaxation exercises. It will be written about him in the article below.

Types of relaxation

Experts in the field of psychology, trainers and educators have knowledge of a large number of exercises in meditation and relaxation techniques that contribute to the rapid restoration of the psychoemotional and physical resources of the body. Importantly, this method of self-regulation is available to both adults and children in the DOW. Relaxation exercises are divided into several main types:

1. Temporary. Prolonged relaxation can occur under the influence of pharmacological agents, hypnosis or during sleep. A short rest is characterized by a quick release of stress and tension.
2. By the method of exposure: muscle (tactile), mental (figurative).
3. By origin. Primary relaxation, which occurs without outside interference after physical exertion, and secondary, is caused as a result of specially planned actions.
4. In depth. Superficial relaxation is characterized by a short rest, deep relaxation lasts at least 20 minutes. In this case, the body has a therapeutic effect.
5. By the rate of occurrence. Emergency relaxation involves urgent methods of exposure in cases of urgent need, and prolonged, on the contrary, has a long course or systematic application.
6. In scale of influence. Differentiated (local) relaxation is characterized by relaxation of individual parts of the body, while total relaxation is characterized by a complete effect on the body.

As a rule, to achieve the best psychophysical result, several types of therapy are used at once, which are contained in the file of relaxation games and exercises for children.

Kids (up to 5 years old)

It is especially difficult for young children to control and express their feelings and emotions. If you do not teach a child to think about his words and actions, he will grow up nervous, pinched or, conversely, hyperactive, irritable and emotionally unstable. That is why it is very important to help the baby find a way to direct his energy in the right direction and relax.

At this age, children are very susceptible to everything new, so they are easily amenable to learning, including relaxation techniques. The alternation of negative energy and calm can help alternation of physical and breathing exercises, auto-training, drawing and modeling to calm music.

Relaxation exercises for preschool children are as follows:

• The child is offered to imagine the moment of a quarrel, he should scare the opponent with a scream or a frightening grimace, put his fists and stand in a tense pose. After a minute you need to make friends with your opponent, smile and greet. Exercise can be performed in pairs, while always changing roles.

• Another relaxation option looks like this. The child is invited to lie on his back and imagine something pleasant, for example, a burning fire. Eyes should be closed and, breathing deeply, imagine the smell of a bonfire, crackling of logs. This exercise helps to awaken appetite.

Preschoolers

Preparing for school requires a special ability of self-control. This is especially important in order to relieve tension during the break and gather after it to perceive the lesson. Best in this case, auto-training, breathing exercises and relaxation exercises for preschoolers help:

• You can quickly switch and concentrate using a calm deep breath with your nose and a slow exhale through your mouth.

• A mental descent with a parachute to the ground will help to discard motor activity and calm down. For this, the child is offered to imagine a jump, freeze for a while in the air and land smoothly with air currents. This field can safely begin to think.

The child will not learn relaxation exercises for preschoolers, relaxation immediately, but only after repeated, regular training. With this skill, you can avoid many problems in future studies. The process of learning and adapting to the school will be simple and painless.

Elementary classes

Relaxation exercises for younger students help to become more stress-resistant, assiduous, adequately tolerate criticism and other difficulties. In some educational institutions for children are created lounges.

For younger schoolchildren, the following simple relaxation games and exercises are recommended:

1. "Starfish". The child closes his eyes and imagines a place where he is always well and calm. Mentally, he can do everything he likes there, and get a lot of pleasant emotions from it. This exercise is performed for a couple of minutes, then you need to open your eyes, stretch and take a deep breath.
2. "Fly". Exercise helps to relax the muscles of the face. The child assumes a comfortable sitting position: his hands are on his knees, his shoulders are down, his eyes are looking down. He mentally imagines a fly that wants to land on some part of his face. The challenge is to prevent this and drive the fly away without opening your eyes, without using your hands.
3. "Lemon". Sitting on a chair, hands on his knees, palms looking up, head down, eyes closed. They imagine that they squeeze the lemon in one hand until all the juice has flowed out. It is necessary to remember your feelings during extrusion. Then they do the same with the other hand and both.
4. "Balloon". Standing straight with closed eyes, hands raise up and gain a full chest of air. They imagine how the body swells and becomes a ball. On inspiration, the breath is held, straining with the whole body. Then, someone imagines to pierce a ball, and he slowly deflates, releasing air. The body relaxes from the fingers to the legs.
5. "Icicle". The initial position is to stand upright, arms raised above the head, eyes closed. You need to imagine yourself an icicle. The position is fixed for a couple of minutes. Then they imagine how the sun warmed the icicle, and it begins to melt (from the tips of the fingers). It is important to remember this state of complete relaxation and peace during the execution of the technique.
6. Jumping and squats. In order to quickly get rid of nervous tension, it is recommended to use the method widely used among athletes and artists. It is enough to jump or sit down on the spot 20-30 times.

Teens

Adolescence is associated with a change in the hormonal background and the accompanying mood swings. Even a ten-minute relaxation exercise helps to restore strength and sets up mental activity:

1. Inhale, exhale. Slowly take a deep breath through the nose. They hold their breath for several seconds and also release air through their nose and with it all the negative energy.
2. Minute relaxation. Lips should be slightly moistened, facial muscles relaxed. All thoughts are focused on body position and facial expression. Taking deep breaths and long exhalations, you need to relax all muscle groups as much as possible.
3. Verification The surroundings are carefully examined. It is necessary to remember all objects and their location. Then they close their eyes and try to recreate what they saw: all things and where they are. Thus, you can escape from extraneous thoughts and negativity.
4. Relaxation. Standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart, lean forward, head and arms hanging down freely. The breath is steady. The position is fixed for several minutes and gradually rise.

Useful tips for normalizing the psycho-emotional background:

1. Distract from thoughts. Training, cleaning or other physical labor allows you to escape from internal stress.
2. A change of scenery. You should not be where the unpleasant situation has occurred. It is advisable to go outside and take a walk, and returning, imagine that the situation has changed.
3. Music. Good music raises the mood, and a pleasant, calm melody relaxes and evokes positive emotions.
4. Communication. Often the voice of a loved one replaces all kinds of relaxants. You can talk on pleasant topics over the phone or meet in person. It distracts from unpleasant memories, relieves nervousness.
5. Taking a bath. After lying in a warm bath and doing several breathing exercises, you can quickly get rid of stress. To do this, take a deep breath and fall into the water to the nose, and then gradually exhale.

Relaxation exercises for students can be supplemented with the following breathing techniques:

1. They take a breath for four seconds, hold it for a couple of moments, and then quickly and abruptly exhale.
2. Slowly, for four seconds, inhale through the nose, hold for a couple of moments, and then perform a long exhale for eight seconds.

Breathing technique helps to collect thoughts and calm down in any tense situation.

Muscle relaxation for adults

Kindergarten teachers and school teachers are also experiencing some stress. Psychologists have created relaxation exercises for teachers that help to relax in a tense situation.

This complex is designed for the muscles of different parts of the body. You can perform it both at work and at home.

Better to start with a breathing exercise. Thoughts are concentrated on some pleasant memory, breathing is calm and deep. After several minutes of such relaxation, they begin muscle relaxation:

• Hands. It is necessary to tighten the fist as much as possible to the maximum tension in the hand and forearm. On exhalation, the arm is relaxed, concentrating on the feeling of lightness. The exercise is repeated with the other limb. It is worth noting that left-handed people are better off starting the exercise with their left hand, and right-handers - with the right.
• Neck. The head is thrown back, smoothly turning to one and the other side, then the frontal position is fixed. The shoulders are lifted to the ears, and the chin is lowered to the chest, freezes for a few seconds and relax.
• Face. It is necessary to portray surprise, the mouth is wide open, the eyes are wide, the eyebrows are raised high. Then the reverse exercise. The eyes are tightly closed, the jaw is closed, the nose is wrinkled, the forehead is frowning.
• Chest. They take a deep breath, hold their breath for five seconds, and return to their normal rhythm.

• Back and stomach. The spine is straightened, the shoulder blades are reduced. Tighten the abdominal muscles. Hold the position for five seconds, relax as you exhale.
• Legs. The hips are very annoying, limbs in a bent position. Feet with straight fingers point towards themselves, and then squeeze the fingers and pull the feet in the opposite direction.

Each exercise is repeated 3-4 times. At the moment of muscle relaxation, you need to concentrate on a pleasant feeling of relaxation.

Breathing technique

The purpose of relaxation exercises is to relax the body and reduce mental stress. An important role in this is respiratory gymnastics. Its advantage is that most exercises can be performed anywhere:

1. During each exhalation, it is necessary to relax the upper pectoral muscles and shoulders as much as possible, lowering them down.
2. During inhalation through the nose, up to four are considered to themselves, during exhalation - up to eight. This exercise is especially effective during stressful situations and helps a lot with insomnia.
3. Breathing technique from yoga. With the thumb of the right hand they close the right nostril (men), with the left hand - the left (women). Take a deep breath with the other nasal opening and cover the second nostril with the ring finger at its peak, exhaling through the mouth.

Self-regulation

In addition to a special complex of relaxation exercises, there are many other ways to relieve stress and relax:

• laugh heartily, smile, joke;
• think about the pleasant, dream;
• pull up several times;
• look at something pleasant and beautiful;
• mentally turn to the universe or God;
• take real or imagined sunbathing;
• read poetry;
• do something nice;
• take a walk in the fresh air.

Relaxation before bedtime

Very often, stress does not leave children even at night. Hence the chronic lack of sleep or insomnia, moods and the inability to sleep. This undoubtedly affects the psycho-emotional and physical condition. Possible consequences can be prevented by following these recommendations:

1. Before going to bed, you need to establish a deep, calm breath, filling the lungs with air.
2. Half an hour before a night's rest, you can perform a set of muscle relaxation exercises for children described earlier in the article.
3. Lying in a bed on a comfortable pillow, the child must mentally imagine a place where he would like to sleep.

Recommendations

In addition to performing relaxation exercises for children and adults, the following recommendations should be followed as preventative measures:

1. It is necessary to ensure a calm, sound sleep at least seven hours a day.
2. Take more walks in the great outdoors.
3. It is advisable to talk with people and walk slowly.
4. Do not get ahead of yourself, it’s better to live today.
5. Looking in the mirror, you need to smile and praise yourself.
6. You can not accumulate emotions and problems in yourself. They need to be addressed immediately with the support of loved ones.
7. Before going to bed, it is recommended to drink a cup of herbal tea.
8. No need to try to please everyone and always, this is unrealistic.
9. At least one hour a day is important to devote to yourself and do what you love.
10. Every decision should be made in a relaxed atmosphere.
11. You need to often return to pleasant memories and spend time with people dear to your heart.

The article describes relaxation exercises for adults and children. They will help to cope with a difficult situation and to alleviate stress.