A Simple Yet Effective Hack to Help Reduce Your Daughter's Anxiety - a tip from our upcoming anxious teen workshop
We've shared a lot with you recently about what anxiety looks like, feels like, sounds like, etc, but what can you actually do to deal with anxiety? In preparation for our upcoming anxious teen workshop, designed specifically for the needs of teenage girls, we are going to share with you a tool that can help you in dealing with this emotion.
Try this hack, one of several that we'll teach at our upcoming Workshop for Anxious Teen Girls, to help your teenage daughter's anxiety!
What, you might ask, is this magic tool? It is actually nothing more than a variation of mindfulness meditation practice, in the form of an activity. Meditation and mindfulness are effective to help ease the discomfort of anxiety.
The tool is called the "5,4,3,2,1 game", here’s how it works
Focus on 5 things in your surroundings that you can see. It can be a light, the trees outside, the color of your shirt...anything that is in your immediate environment.
Now concentrate on 4 things that you hear. Can you hear the sound of your breath, the humming of the air conditioner, or the ticking of the clock? Notice noises that you would not otherwise have heard if you were not quiet and focusing on this sense.
Name 3 things that you can feel - the pressure of your back on the chair, how your feet feel against the floor, the gentle breeze of the fan or a/c on your arm. Really notice what these sensations feel like.
Identify 2 things that you can smell or if there is nothing that smells in your immediate environment, use one of your favorite essential oils or perfumes to smell.
Say out loud one good thing about yourself.
This exercise may seem simple, yet it is very effective in helping people ground themselves in the present moment. This also allows for the "spinning hamster wheel" of thoughts that can happen during your teen's anxious moments to settle down. Try it yourself and let us know how it was in the comments section below!
Harper Therapy has created a workshop especially for teen girls who struggle with anxiety. Call 813-434-3639 for more information and to register. Seating for our anxious teen workshop is very limited!
