S-O-S Research

A lot of articles and blogs are currently addressing the stress and anxiety that children and parents are experiencing over starting a new school year. We are back to nightly homework, long-term projects, writing assignments, and tests. Our kids need to be on a routine for eating dinner and bedtime, as the alarm sounds awfully early the following morning.

In my household, I have a sophomore son in high school and a daughter in middle school. My son’s schedule alternates between early and late morning start times and homework was assigned on day one. He stays after school every day to practice with the jazz band and then rushes home to complete his homework. Once in a while he gets lucky and fits in the relief of an hour of skateboarding.

My daughter is in the 7th grade and just completed her first week of school. The school has been kind enough to not assign any homework this week, which in turns means I have had no homework.  That being said, she is on her third school driver in just one week. The schedule has not been firm but it is looking like it will settle in at a 6:45am pick-up (ouch!) and back home by 4:00pm. A long day for any child, but in particular one with a variety of special needs issues, one of them being anxiety.

Wild Ride to the Heart

I was approached by the Institute of HeartMath to review a game they developed to help children learn about and manage their emotions and stress. The Wild Ride to the Heart board game is colorful and reminiscent of CandyLand. The first player to reach the heart wins.

As you move along the board you land on a surprise face, a feeling face, a detour, or a blank space. A surprise face requires you to select a Surprise Face card and follow the instructions. There are a range of things to do from “Give your best smile to the other players.” to “What makes you sad? Tell the other players.” When you land on a feeling face you have three options. You can make the face that matches that emotion, tell a story about when you experienced that emotion, or “go to the heart.” Going to the heart involves practicing a calming method that is outlined on the game board.

The game also comes with an Emotion Definition Card. The card shows twelve faces depicting twelve different emotions. Additionally, twenty emotions or feelings are described, followed by a sentence to further illustrate their meaning. Both the Emotion Card and the directions for the game come in English and Spanish.

The overall goal of Wild Ride to the Heart is to teach children the skills to self-regulate their emotions and to learn stress management techniques while playing a fun, interactive board game. I highly recommend this game for parents and believe the entire family will benefit from the fun assignments and useful tools. It is reasonably priced at $14.95 and can be purchased at the HeartMath shop.

The Institute of HeartMath

The Institute of HeartMath is a nonprofit organization founded in 1991 that has become an international leader in stress research, resilience and education. As HeartMath explains it, “One of our primary areas of research explores the connection between emotions and our ability to learn, retain information, and perform in both children and adults.”

HeartMath desires to improve academic performance by developing the well-being of students, teachers, and the classroom environment. They offer programs that include their “award winning emWave technology” aimed at teaching people to alter their physiological response to anxiety and stress. There are programs geared towards students and teachers.

The HeartMath My Kid! Facebook page contains free tips and tools  to help children manage anxieties and fears. Here is an example of what is offered:

Shift and Shine® Technique for ages three to six:

Modeling positive emotions for children as young as three can help them begin learning emotion-management skills. Start this exercise by telling your child who you care about. Now ask your child who he or she cares about. Thinking about these positive feelings of care will lay a foundation as you guide your child through this technique using the following steps.

Step 1. Heart Attention: Begin by putting your attention on the area around your heart or the center of your chest.

Step 2. Heart Breathing: Now pretend to breathe in and out of your heart area. Take three slow breaths.

Step 3. Heart Feeling: Think of someone or something that makes you feel happy. Feel that happy feeling in your heart and then shine that feeling to someone or something special.

The Heartshift™ Tool for ages seven to eleven:

This tool helps children calm down and think more clearly when things upset them. It can help children shift from a negative emotion to a positive one. Parents can teach children this tool using the following steps.

Step 1. Notice what you are feeling. Take a moment and ask yourself, “How am I feeling?” Then say out loud what you are feeling.

Step 2. Shift to your heart. Put two fingers on your forehead and then move them from your head to your heart while saying, “Focus on the area of my heart.”

Step 3. Breathe a feeling of calmness. Breathe slowly and easily. Imagine the air flowing in and out of your heart area. Take your time breathing in and out. Do this three to five times. What changes did you notice in your body? How do you feel now?”

A full guide and introduction to these techniques are available on the HeartMath My Kids! Facebook page under “boxes.” In addition, you will find other tools such as “Warp Speed” that helps build coordination and team skills, “Awareness Walk” that teaches children to slow down and listen to their heart to become more aware of their surroundings, and “Banquet for the Senses” that allows a  child to experience stimuli while blindfolded. These and more tools and techniques are presented and offer your child a lot of  fun while participating in a learning event.

I also highly encourage you to check out HeartMath’s website. They offer a free newsletter and a number of free e-books. There is also an entire section devoted to free material and information on topics ranging from solutions to stress to two decades of an archive containing press releases, past newsletters, and video podcasts. A wealth of information is available and it is definitely worth taking the time to search for something that may benefit your child.

I like the work that HeartMath has been doing and the products they offer to help individuals learn to regulate their emotions and stress. They are included in the S-O-S Rescue Series on Anxiety, Stage 3 as a resource for parents. I hope to bring you more information on their research and products in the future.