How to Treat Anxiety in a Child Naturally Using a Breathing Necklace
09/06/2024
Key Takeaways
01. Studies show that one in five children is at risk of developing anxiety, which is why it’s so important to learn about topics such as how to treat anxiety in a child naturally.
02. Symptoms of anxiety in a child can be a combination of mental and physical indicators, such as poor sleep, lack of confidence, and difficulty concentrating.
03. A variety of techniques, such as physical activity and establishing a routine, can be used to help you help your child navigate anxiety.
04. A breathing necklace helps to trigger the vagus nerve, signaling the body to relax and move away from those anxious thoughts.
Helping Your Little One Catch Their Breath
When your child isn’t feeling like themselves and is showing signs of anxiety, it can leave you feeling equally helpless and anxious. They’re looking to you and expecting help on how to feel better. When the call is coming from inside the house, or in this case, inside their minds, it can be even more nerve-wracking trying to work out what you can do to help your young one and leave you wondering things like, “How to treat anxiety in a child naturally.”
First of all, take a breath! The good news is that kids have an incredible ability to bounce back and can be some of the most resilient, optimistic beings on the planet. The key is working together to get them the help they need and visualizing the end goal: stressing less.
Let’s jump in.
Why Learning About How to Treat Anxiety in a Child is Important
Anxiety and fear are common experiences for children as they grow, helping them learn to navigate the challenges and uncertainties of life. While most children experience these feelings in a way that is manageable and temporary, some may find themselves overwhelmed by anxiety, leading to more serious emotional and physical symptoms. This is where the distinction between normal anxiety and anxiety disorders comes into play. Unlike typical childhood fears, anxiety disorders can cause intense distress, manifesting in a variety of out-of-the-norm behaviors.
Recent research, such as a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, highlights a worrying trend: anxiety and depression among children have been on the rise, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2020, millions of children were grappling with anxiety, yet access to mental health services hasn’t kept up with this growing need. With nearly 1 in 5 children at risk of developing an anxiety disorder and many more showing signs of significant stress, parents and caregivers must be proactive in finding ways to support their child's mental health.
What Causes Anxiety in Children?
There are a multitude of reasons why a child may develop anxiety, especially in today’s modern world packed full of technology. Here are a few situations that a worried mental state may result from.
- Genetics and Family History: If anxiety disorders run in the family, a child may have a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety themselves.
- Environmental Stress: High levels of stress at home or school, such as parental conflict or bullying, can create an environment where anxiety thrives.
- Traumatic Events: Experiencing or witnessing traumatic events, such as a natural disaster, accident, or the death of a loved one, can deeply impact a child and contribute to anxiety.
- Social Isolation: Lack of friends or social support can make a child feel lonely and anxious about fitting in or being accepted by peers.
- Academic Challenges: Struggling in school, whether due to learning difficulties or pressure to perform, can lead to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety.
- Changes in Routine: Major life changes like moving to a new home, changing schools, or family separation can be unsettling and increase anxiety in children.
- Perfectionism: Children who put excessive pressure on themselves to be perfect may become anxious about failing or making mistakes.
These factors often interact, and each child's experience is unique. Understanding these causes can help in providing the right support and intervention. It can also be an early indicator. If one of these situations occurs, stay on the lookout for any symptoms of anxiety that may begin to develop. The sooner they’re noticed, the quicker action can be taken to alleviate those uncomfortable feelings.
Anxiety Symptoms in Children To Look Out For
Before we discuss how to treat anxiety in a child naturally, we must address an important aspect of the conversation: How do you know if your child is struggling with anxious thoughts? Knowing what behaviors to look out for can help you quickly take action and get your child feeling better.
Not to mention, the sooner they start learning how to navigate those anxious thoughts, the more practice they’ll have and the easier it will be to believe in themselves and their power to overcome those feelings. This is a great foundation to set for the rest of their lives because, as you know, life is stressful no matter how old you are!
Some of the common signs of anxiety in a child include:
- Trouble sleeping
- Excessive worrying or having negative thoughts
- Irritability
- Frequent urination
- Being fidgety
- Fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Muscle tension
- Cries frequently
- Separation anxiety
- Fearfulness
- Lack of self-confidence
- Social avoidance
- Says “no” often
- Stomach aches
- Hives
- Excessive sweating
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a good starting point for warning signs that your child might be struggling with anxiety. Learning how to treat anxiety in a child naturally will help you help them navigate out of these thought patterns and into a healthier mental state.
Ideas for How to Treat Anxiety in a Child Naturally
Your first step is to be as patient and understanding as possible because they won’t always know how to verbalize their feelings. Many adults struggle with this while dealing with anxiety, and we’ve got decades of learned words and experiences to pull from! Being there as an anchor and listening ear is one of the absolute best things you can do to help them. Work to avoid dismissing their anxieties and fears. Instead, acknowledge/validate them and help them process those emotions so they can move through them and then move on.
Also, encouragement goes a long way! That’s why we love this quote:
“Promise me you’ll always remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
- Christopher Robin.
From there, it’s all about learning things together that help them manage those anxious thoughts. Unfortunately, we can’t just magically will them away. If you’ve dealt with anxiety, you know exactly how frustrating it can be! The goal is to use tools and techniques to help the brain calm down and shift away from that heightened state of stress.
Learning how to treat anxiety in a child naturally is a great route to take initially, as using medicine comes with its own set of drawbacks. At the moment, it has an unknown effect on brain chemistry, has the potential for adverse side effects, and the benefits may not persist after treatment has been discontinued. That’s not to say they shouldn’t be used! A medical professional will be able to determine better if pharmaceuticals are a good route to take to help your child feel more like themselves. That said, natural techniques can be a solid foundation to build to help them navigate anxiety in the long term and can be used in tandem with other treatments.
With that in mind, here are some techniques that may help.
1. Establish a Routine
Children thrive on routine because it provides a sense of predictability and safety. A consistent daily schedule can help reduce anxiety by letting your child know what to expect. For example, setting regular meals, homework, and bedtime times can help ground your child and alleviate their worries.
2. Encourage Physical Activity
Exercise is a natural way to reduce anxiety by releasing endorphins, the body's feel-good hormones. Encourage your child to engage in physical activities they enjoy, whether playing outside, riding a bike, dancing, or participating in a sport. Physical activity helps reduce stress, boosts self-esteem, and improves sleep, which are vital in managing anxiety.
3. Balanced Nutrition
A healthy diet plays a crucial role in mental health. Foods rich in vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids can support brain function and mood regulation. Ensuring your child has a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can help stabilize their mood and reduce anxiety.
4. Create a Safe Space
Designating a "calm corner" or a special place in your home where your child can go to relax can be very helpful. This space can be filled with comforting items like soft pillows, favorite books, or calming scents they enjoy. Having a designated area for relaxation can provide a sense of security and a retreat when your child feels overwhelmed.
5. Encourage Creative Expression
Art, music, and writing can be powerful outlets for children to express their feelings without needing to put them into words. Encouraging your child to draw, paint, write stories, or play an instrument can help them process their emotions and reduce anxiety.
6. Foster Healthy Sleep Habits
Lack of sleep can exacerbate anxiety, making it harder for a child to cope with their feelings. Ensure your child gets enough rest by creating a bedtime routine and a relaxing space to fall asleep in. This might include turning off screens an hour before bed, reading a calming story, or listening to soft music.
7. Limit Exposure to Stressful Media
Constant exposure to negative news or social media (aka, doomscrolling) can increase a kid’s anxiety, especially in teenagers. Monitor what your child is watching or reading, and try to limit exposure to content that might be too intense or frightening for them.
8. Model Calm Behavior
Children often take cues from their parents on how to handle stress. You can teach your child how to manage anxiety more effectively by modeling calm and positive behavior. Show them how you handle challenges and discuss your strategies to stay calm.
Keep in mind that every child is different. What works for someone may not work for your little one. Create a list and slowly work through it with their input on what helps and what doesn’t. Eventually, they’ll have a set of tools to pull from to help them better navigate their anxiety.
How to Treat Anxiety in a Child Naturally: Adding in a Breathing Necklace
The method behind anxiety breathing necklaces is their ability to help control the breath and extend exhalations. Purposeful inhalations and exhalations are an amazing, natural way to help calm our bodies.
When stressed, our inhales and exhales can transition out of the normal, healthy rhythm needed to maintain our natural internal balance. Think about riding on a rollercoaster. You have that initial stress spike as you climb to the top of the drop zone, leading to your inhales speeding up and a rapid pitter-patter heart rate. That instant sky-high heart rate and heavy breathing is the sympathetic nervous system kicking in and helping you deal with what it perceives as a threat. Once you get off the ride and the “danger” is gone, the parasympathetic nervous system will initiate to calm your body down.
In normal circumstances, this biological response is incredibly beneficial! The problem is that your child may get stuck in a “fight or flight state.” That means their breathing remains out of whack, tricking their body into staying alert and stressed.
An anxiety breathing necklace helps to work through this by slowing their exhales, stimulating the vagus nerve, and helping their body relax. It’s basically a signal to their brain that says, “Hey! I’m safe. No need to stay on alert for danger.” Wearing it daily allows them to practice purposeful breathing anytime and anywhere. If they’re feeling anxious at school or stressed during a specific situation at home, it can help them calm down in the moment.
How to Make Using a Breathing Necklace Fun
Let’s be honest: At first, using a breathing necklace will probably seem pretty weird to your child. They may struggle to remember to use it or how to use it, especially if they’re younger. One way to help them is to associate it with fun!
Here are a few options to try:
Use a Prop
Make breathing necklaces fun by challenging them to blow against something like a pinwheel, piece of paper, or a feather. This will extend their exhales (exactly what we want) and further distract them from those anxious thoughts.
Picture a Shape
This is similar to box breathing and can be a lot of fun for your child. Have them imagine or draw out a shape, like a square. As they follow along one line of the shape, have them inhale. When they get to another line, have them exhale into the breathing necklace. Continue this process until the shape is complete, and repeat it a few more times. It’s that simple!
Have Them Count it Out
If your little one loves numbers and counting, have them tap out a count of four while inhaling. When they’re finished, have them pause and reset. Then, have them tap out a count of 4-8 while they exhale. Focusing on counting helps to make sure they’re breathing properly and it’s one more thing to focus on other than those buzzing thoughts!
Use Their Imagination
Have them imagine that they're the big bad wolf blowing down the houses of the two little pigs. Or, imagine that they are some sort of animal, like a crocodile, coming out of the water to get a quick breath of air and slowly releasing it underwater. Maybe they’re pretending to cool down a hot drink! Whatever you can think of to help them have fun while also getting their breathing under control.
All of these can be fun, helpful ways to learn how to treat anxiety in a child naturally using a breathing necklace.
The Best Breathing Necklace
Komuso designed and patented the original anxiety breathing necklace concept in 2017. Hundreds of counterfeit knock-offs are documented as scams that ship from China and take months to deliver if they arrive. Most use toxic metals for the mouth, copy Komuso’s story, and infringe on two patents. They do not meet the quality standards we implemented for our product, and we do not suggest giving them to your child.
The Shift breathing necklace is made with medical-grade 316 stainless steel, which bakes the precious metal colors throughout the piece through a proprietary process to ensure it doesn’t scratch or fade. With a young one always on the go, this is a must-have to avoid wear and tear! The chamber is also specifically measured to slow the exhale to 8+ seconds, ensuring that your child will get the most out of their breath.
We also include a free breath course called TKM: The Komuso Method so that you and your child can learn how to get the most out of the necklace. Our course provides a daily formula to easily incorporate better breathing practices so that they experience better mental health and wellness by quelling those anxious thoughts. By teaching you and your little one how best to use your Shift and combining breathwork, emotional granularity, and reticular activation, they’ll learn how to make a habit of feeling more calm and in control.
A Final Thought for How to Treat Anxiety in a Child Naturally
All of these tools can be used to help your anxious child regardless of what age they are. That said, professional help can also be incredibly helpful if nothing seems to be working well enough to help them feel better. A mental health professional can offer their expert insights and perhaps alternatives that you might not have thought of! There’s absolutely no shame in asking for help, especially when it’s to help set up your child for success.
It’s a stressful world out there, and this situation is not your fault. In our book, working to help your child through this makes you an A++ parent. You’ve got this!
The Shift breathing necklace, so much good in one breath.
So much good in one breath.
* FREE The Komuso Method course included
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