The Koeppen Technique To Help Children Relax
Children, like adults, can suffer from anxiety or stress in their day-to-day lives. They also experience difficult situations that can cause them distress, uneasiness, or anger. Relaxation is an extremely useful and beneficial practice for little ones in many ways. Therefore, today we will talk about one of the simplest and most fun methods to get children to relax: the Koeppen technique.
This is based on the relationship between physical and mental tension. When we manage to relax our body, anxiety is also gradually reduced. For this reason, this technique uses some simple visualization exercises in which we will guide the children to tense and relax their different muscle groups. Each exercise or story has to be repeated two to four times.
Initial exercises of the Koeppen technique
1. Lemon, exercise to relax hands and arms : “Imagine that you have a lemon in your left hand. You have to squeeze it hard to get all the juice out of it. Squeeze it hard. Notice how your hand and arm tense as you squeeze. You have already done it, now drop the lemon and let it fall. Feel your hand and arm relax. Do you notice the difference? “.
2. The lazy cat, to relax arms and shoulders: “Imagine that you are a very lazy cat and you want to stretch. Stretch your arms in front of you. Raise them over your head and pull them back hard. Do you notice the pull on your shoulders? Now, let them fall to the sides and feel how your shoulders and your arms rest ”.
3. The turtle, to relax shoulders and neck: “Now you are a turtle sitting, very happy, on a rock. Suddenly, you feel in danger: you have to hide! Tuck your head into the shell, bring your shoulders to your ears. The danger has passed, you can go out. Stick your head out and feel your shoulders and neck relax . “
4. Chewing gum, to relax the jaw: “You have a very big, enormous gum. You want to chew it, but for this you have to use all the muscles of your jaw. Bite down hard, chew it. Now the gum is gone, you can stop squeezing and feel your muscles relax . “
More exercises of the Koeppen technique
5. The fly, to relax the face, nose and forehead: “You have a very annoying fly perched on your nose. You want to scare her away, but you can’t use your hands. Try wrinkling your nose a lot. Do you notice how your cheeks and lips tighten? You have already made it go away, you can totally relax your face ”.
6. The elephant, to relax the abdomen: “You are calmly lying on the grass. Suddenly, you see an elephant running towards you. You don’t have time to escape and the only solution is to make your stomach hard; Make it as hard as a rock The elephant has gone in another direction, now you can rest and relax ”.
7. The fence, to relax the abdomen and back: “Walking through the forest, you see a beautiful place that you want to go, but you have to go through a very narrow fence. To achieve this, you have to put your stomach as far as you can, as if you wanted to join it with your back. You have achieved it, you can now return to the normal position and leave your stomach loose “.
8. Mud, to relax feet and legs : “You are walking through a jungle when you see a muddy pool; you want to get your feet in it. To do this, you have to push with all the strength of your legs; push down to walk through the mud. Now get out there, let go of your legs and feet and feel how they relax. “
Usefulness of this method
Through these exercises, children will learn to know and relate to their own body. They will be able to become familiar with feelings of tension and identify them when they appear in their daily life. In addition, they will learn that by relaxing their muscles they can reduce their anxiety or nervousness.
This is not an isolated exercise, but rather a continuous practice. The little ones have to do it regularly, at least once a day. With this, they will achieve a greater state of relaxation during the day, they will improve their attention and concentration, as well as the quality of their sleep. In addition, it will improve their emotional intelligence, since it will make it easier for them to understand and manage their emotions.
