Focus on a Color or Image for One Minute. Kids too!
The Mental Health Association recommends that visualizing can help stop the chatter in our heads and will help to decrease stress. This is incredibly difficult for most of us to do. Start small and with practice you will increase your ability to focus. With a little effort, relaxation can be achieved for you, your children, and even your teen!
Tips to Stop the Chatter
by Lori Lite
1. Focus on an image. Set a timer for 30 seconds and try to think only of and look at that image. When you become comfortable with 30 seconds increase your time to one minute. Let your children and teens try this with you. Kids will see it as a game and time spent bonding with mom or dad. Teens may want to do it privately or never even let you know they tried. Plant the relaxation seed. You never know when it will start to grow. (Children may need to try even less time. Try 10 seconds or less.)
2. Focus on a color. It can be a sheet of construction paper, a flower, a pet, a screen saver, a candle ,or even a crayon. If thoughts enter your head, simply acknowledge the thought and send it away. Empower children by letting them set the timer. If your children tell you a thought is entering their head…help them wave goodbye to it or send it away in a bubble.
3. Close your eyes and visualize. With practice you will be able to use this technique without an actual image. You will be able to close your eyes and visualize an image or color. This technique can be used at any time, especially bedtime. I fall asleep this way every evening. This is an extremely helpful relaxation technique to stop the chatter and help you, your children, and your teens fall asleep.
4. Use CDs for varied visualizations. My Indigo Dreams CD Series introduces this very technique to all ages. A Boy and a Turtle and Bubble Riding are two stories that use color for relaxation. Both of these stories can be found on Indigo Dreams and Indigo Ocean Dreams. Indigo Dreams: Adult Relaxation has a visualizing track and Indigo Teen Dreams has a track for teens.
Below you will find a list of CDs that make visualizing easy.
Indigo Dreams (shortest stories for youngest children, includes visualizing story A Boy and a Turtle)
Indigo Ocean Dreams (longer stories includes visualizing story Bubble Riding)
Indigo Dreams: Garden Of Wellness (Bubble Blowing visualization)
Indigo Teen Dreams (Visualizing technique is one of 4 techniques for teens)
Indigo Dreams: Adult Relaxation (Visualizing technique is one of 4 techniques for adults)
Stress Free Kids founder Lori Lite is a freelance blogger, social media strategist, parenting expert, and successful entrepreneur. Her line of books and CDs are designed to help children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger. Ms. Lite’s books, CDs, and lesson plans are considered a resource for parents, psychologists, therapists, child life specialists, teachers, doctors, and yoga instructors. Lori’s award winning books received national attention on Shark Tank and her sort after accessible tips have been featured in hundreds of publications to include: CNN Living, Real Simple Magazine, USA Today, Family Circle, Working Mother Magazine, and Web MD. For more information visit Stress Free Kids and for daily advice follow Lori on Twitter and Facebook.
Want to share relaxation or visualizing with your child, class or group? The Visualizing Lesson Plan is now available as a download.