Shifting a child's emotional state

See Tina Payne Bryson, PhD's video on Shifting a child's emotional state...
Shifting a child's emotional state | Kids in the House
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

Shifting a child's emotional state

Comment
108
Like
108
Transcription: 
When our children are having a negative emotion, they are frustrated, they are angry, they are oversensitive, one of the things we can do is help them move their bodies. People think our emotions start in the brain, but actually our emotions start in our bodies. By the time your brain says, "I'm really tense and anxious right now, your body has already known that for a while." We can actually move this the other way around. If we can help our children with moving their bodies in a new way, we can actually shift their whole emotional state. A couple of practical ways to do this, if you have small child, you can ask them to pretend to be an animal poses and you can guess which animal it is. They actually will do some yoga poses to act out these animal charades. What you can do with older children is "keep it up." Blow up a balloon, keep it up and try and keep it off the ground or turn on music and see who can do the craziest dances. These are some of the things you can do to get them to move their bodies which can shift their emotional state. Additionally, if you have a child who is upset and talking to you, just grab a ball and start tossing it with them, while they are talking. They don't actually realize it right then, but you are actually getting them to move their body, which can help calm their emotional state as well.

See Tina Payne Bryson, PhD's video on Shifting a child's emotional state...

Related Videos

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

Tina Payne Bryson, PhD

Psychotherapist & Author

Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, is a psychotherapist at Pediatric and Adolescent Psychology Associates in Arcadia, California, where she sees children and adolescents, as well as provides parenting consultations. She is the school counselor at St. Marks Episcopal School in Altadena, CA, and a Developmental Consultant to Camp Chippewa for Boys. She speaks to parents, educators, and clinicians all across the country. Dr. Bryson earned her PhD from the University of Southern California, where her research explored attachment science, childrearing theory, and the emerging field of interpersonal neurobiology. Her best-selling book The Whole-Brain Child (co-authored with Dr. Dan Siegel) gives parents practical ways to transform difficult moments into opportunities for children to thrive.  Dr. Bryson has written for a large number of publications, most recently the PBS series “This Emotional Life.”  She lives near Los Angeles with her husband and three children.  

More Parenting Videos from Tina Payne Bryson, PhD >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter
  Listen or Watch
Must See First Year Videos
Three important rules about your baby's first foods
First year milestones
Postnatal depression and loneliness advice
Baby losing interest in nursing
The importance of spending quality time during early childhood
Narrating an infant's environment
Research based benefits of co-sleeping
Bonding versus attachment
Bonding with your baby after a less-than-perfect birth
Preventing postpartum depression
Play All 34 Videos
Featured Experts: Alan Greene, MD, Lawrence Kagan, MD, Barbara Olinger, MSW
More Playlists >
Transcription: 
When our children are having a negative emotion, they are frustrated, they are angry, they are oversensitive, one of the things we can do is help them move their bodies. People think our emotions start in the brain, but actually our emotions start in our bodies. By the time your brain says, "I'm really tense and anxious right now, your body has already known that for a while." We can actually move this the other way around. If we can help our children with moving their bodies in a new way, we can actually shift their whole emotional state. A couple of practical ways to do this, if you have small child, you can ask them to pretend to be an animal poses and you can guess which animal it is. They actually will do some yoga poses to act out these animal charades. What you can do with older children is "keep it up." Blow up a balloon, keep it up and try and keep it off the ground or turn on music and see who can do the craziest dances. These are some of the things you can do to get them to move their bodies which can shift their emotional state. Additionally, if you have a child who is upset and talking to you, just grab a ball and start tossing it with them, while they are talking. They don't actually realize it right then, but you are actually getting them to move their body, which can help calm their emotional state as well.