Benefits of Deep Breathing Exercises for Students
- Relieves tension and stress
- Promotes relaxation and focus
- Alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety
- Helps us to think more clearly to make better decisions
Teaching a student breathing exercises can empower them to take responsibility for their feelings without hurting people or things around them. This further builds on their emotional regulation skills which are crucial for building healthy relationships with friends and family. Let's take a look at 5 fun mindful breathing exercises for students.
#1 Mindfulness Breathing Exercises for Students: Rainbow Breathing
Rainbow breathing exercise is a fun, playful way to engage students.
1. First, place your finger on the left cloud under the red arc.
2. Next, take a deep breath through your nose as you trace the red arc to the right.
3. Now exhale through your nose as you trace the red arc to the left.
4. Repeat this with the rest of the six colors or until you feel calmer and more focused.
These breathing exercise cards are part of our Calm Down Corner Printable Kit.
#2 Mindfulness Breathing Exercises for Students: Bee Breathing
Making breathing exercises fun is important because we want kids to enjoy doing these breathing exercises to feel calmer and relaxed when they are feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Animal breathing is a great way to introduce mindful breathing to preschoolers and toddlers as they could have fun creating animal sounds.
Bee Breathing
1. First, sit down on the floor or chair.
2. Next, place your palm over your eyes and close your eyes.
3. Take a deep breath through your nose while keeping your mouth closed.
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
4. Exhale through your nose while humming like a bee for a count of 5.
#3 Mindfulness Breathing Exercises for Students: Lion Breathing
Lion Breathing
1. Imagine you are a lion. Take a big breath.
2. Open your mouth and roar for as long as you can while extending your arms and opening your palms.
3. Repeat this 3 more times. You can vary the intensity of each roar.
#4 Mindfulness Breathing Exercises for Students: 4-7-8 Mindful Breathing
4-7-8 breathing is a relaxing mindful breathing technique. Using this method, we inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds and exhale for 8 seconds. This controlled breathing technique can alleviate anxiety, manage stress an improve focus in a classroom.
1. Take a deep breath through your nose for 4 seconds.
2. Hold your breath for 7 seconds.
3. Exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds.
4. Repeat until you feel calm.
#5 Mindfulness Breathing Exercises for Students: Additional Tips
Mindful breathing exercises can be taught to a student before a tantrum or meltdown. Avoid teaching your students breathing techniques during a tantrum - they might not respond well. Teaching and practicing normally is important - so that kids can use them to calm themselves down before a tantrum gets out of control.
Things To Note
When practicing the mindful breathing exercises, take note of your posture. Ensure that you are either standing or seated in a comfortable position, with your shoulders pushed slightly to the back. We want to avoid any hunching so that our lungs can fully engage during the exercise.
During the breathing exercise, visualize your breath flowing deep into your belly. As much as possible, inhale from your nose and breath out from your mouth.
Practice Makes Perfect!
And remember, the key to mastering each breathing exercise is practice! You can incorporate this into daily activities or classroom routine to familiarize your student with these exercises.
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