Relaxation

Sensory integration

﻿In this lesson, we are going to look at what our body feels like when we are relaxed. We as therapists, have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. Each lesson will have ideas and activities that can be carried out at home or in school. This information is to be used alongside any specific strategies or resources which have been given by your child's school or therapist. If you have any questions or would like help tailoring this to your child's needs, then please contact your local therapy service. We have been learning about interior section or that my inside-my-body sense. And we know that this sense is really important for us to survive, but it's also important for us to keep us safe, healthy, make sense of our feelings, make decisions, play, learn, and be independent. But when we are thinking about relaxation and for our bodies to feel quite chilled, sometimes it's hard to do that without thinking about what it feels like when we are not relaxed. So when we are not relaxed, it may be that our heart is beating really fast, our lungs are taking really faster and shorter breaths, our muscles may be quite tense, our tummy may feeling a little bit sore, our eyes might find is really hard to focus because we're kind of looking around the room to kind of see where danger may come from. And the same without ears, we may find really hard to listen when we are not relaxed because our ears are looking out for any danger sounds that it can hear. However, when we are relaxed, our body is open for learning and we can take on more sensory information from our environment when our body is relaxed. So what does that feel like? Let's try it out. We're going to pause this video now to complete this activity and then once you finish, please press play and then you can carry on. So I'm going to ask you to ask your parents or your carer to join you in this activity. First of all, you need to clear a space and lie down on your back and just breathe in and out very slowly and deeply. Now you're going to lift your arm and begin by stretching each finger, then your hand, then your wrist, and then your arm. Really stretch it out, make it really, really tense. And they move on to the other arm and you do exactly the same. So lift the arm and you begin by stretching each little bit of your arm, your fingers, your hand, your wrist, and your arm as well. And then you going to the same. So you're going to tighten up your toes, your feet, your ankles, and your legs. And finally, you're going to stretch your whole body, and you're going to see if you can make yourself grow even, even taller. Now hold that position and then let go. So let go of your arms, of your body, of your legs, and do this while you take a deep breath. So you're going to do this now, so first of all, you're going to tense up your whole body, you're going to hold it for two or three seconds, and then you're going to release that tension, you're going to help your muscles to relax by just sinking into the floor as much as you can. So pause the video now, complete this activity and then press play so that we can carry on. Wow, well done. That is how your body feels when it relaxes, when your muscles are no longer tense. Another thing that we're going to do is, I'm going to show you how you can slow down your breathing, and that will help you to feel calm and relaxed and chilled out. So we're going to again ask you to pause the video, to complete this activity. So remember to ask your parent or your carer to come and join you. And then once you're finished, you can press play. So first of all, make sure that you've got clear space and then you lie down on your back. Now we're to start off with taking a slow and deep breath, and you're going to fill your lungs as much as you can, so think about that big balloon that you are blowing and blowing and blowing as you're filling your lungs. And then once your lungs are lovely and filled you're going to hold it and then slowly let the air back out, when you breathe out. So try and see if you can breathe out through your nose, but if you want to breathe through your mouth, that's absolutely fine as well. Well done. Now we're going to do it and we're going to count. So we're going to breathe in two, three, four, hold it two, three, now breath out two, three, four, five. Brilliant. Now you will notice that I'm breathing out slower, than I'm breathing in. And the reason for that, is that with a controlled breath out, we are releasing a lot of the tension that we're holding into our body. So pause the video now and do this whole activity again with your parent or your carer, and then once you're finished, you can press play. Here are some more ideas to help your body to relax. Sometimes just holding something and squeezing it, so like silly putty or even just clenching and unclenching your fists, will help your body to feel a little bit more relaxed. When you've got your favourite toy, especially if you go into a strange place and you've got something that's familiar with you that may make you feel a little bit more comfortable and help your body to relax. Having a chewy snack, drinking from a straw, maybe having a blanket wrapped around you and maybe just to kind of have a little snuggle. All of those things may help you feel a little bit more relaxed and for your body to feel a little bit more calm. And another one is one of my favourite activities, is you can think about my sensory five, four, three, two, one. So first of all, take a really deep breath and then blow out. So you can take a deep breath in and blow it out . Now, see if you can name five things that you can see, four things that you can touch, three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell, and maybe one thing that you can taste right now. Practise that a few times with your parent or your carer, and next time, when you feeling a little bit tense and a little bit worried, this is a great activity to help you to calm down and for your body to feel a little bit more relaxed. Wow, you did great today. Well done and keep on practising , for your body to feel relaxed because the more you practise, the easier it will be when there are times, when you're all going to feel a little bit worried or even a little bit scared but the more that you practise for your body to feel relaxed, and you can recognise what that feels like, next time, it will be easier and quicker to help your body to be relaxed. Have a great day.

Relaxation

Relaxation

These resources were made for remote use during the pandemic, not classroom teaching.

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