3 Key Tips To Reduce Stress And Anxiety In Your Teen

Anxiety and the emotions felt by your teenager when feeling anxious are all valuable signs from their body that they are out of alignment with what is true to them and out of flow with their purpose in life.

Some examples of stresses for your teenager are:

• Feeling the pressure to look, be or have certain things to fit in with their peers and losing their connection of who they are and what is important to them
• Feeling the pressure of expectations, criticism and judgements from others………
• Looking outside of themselves for validation and approval as a measurement of their self-worth.

The answer is about creating balance again within your teen’s body to bring back calm and clarity.

And, I have 3 key tips that will help to reduce this stress and anxiety in your teenager.

1. Anxiety Resides In The Mind

You may have found when your child is stressed and anxious their mind switches into overdrive.….thinking about past events that may not have turned out so well or projecting their thoughts into the future and worrying about negative outcomes (that may never eventuate anyway). It is just a messy state of confusion that keeps spiralling.

So, the first key tip to reduce stress and anxiety in your teen is a simple technique you can use to help with clearing some of that mind chatter.

Studies have shown that journaling is powerful in releasing the emotional charge around an event or situation and therefore reducing stress and anxiety. This, in turn, will create the ability to think clearer and be able to focus on solutions rather than stay in the energy of the problem.

There are so many different types of Journaling but for today we are using it to ‘Brain Dump’ the anxious thoughts. This is a great time for your teen to brain dump all the things they are concerned about into this journal.

Just allow the pen to flow and have them write everything they feel anxious about as well as the emotions they may be feeling around these topics. There may even be tears during this process which is actually a good thing as tears are the way our body releases old energy (emotions). Once completed, allow them the time to discuss with you what they have written (if they wish).

Make them feel safe with no judgement. Some things they will realise they have no need for concern and others they can actually create a positive plan to solve.

This process by itself can help to reduce some of the anxiety for your teen as they have released all the confusion out of their head and onto the paper – and generally, most things don’t look as scary anymore.

2. The powerful Breath

When your child is feeling anxious it blocks the flow of creativity and inspiration and they lose their connection to what feels purposeful to them.

When they feel stressed and overwhelmed it is because their body has become energetically out of alignment and their emotions of anger, sadness and overwhelm are the ways their body is communicating this message.

There are many techniques that help to rebalance your child’s energy systems and one of those is the breath. Deep breathing will switch the nervous System from ‘fight and flight’ to calm and peaceful.

This breathing technique can be as simple as your teen placing their hands over their heart chakra and breathing into this space.

Inhale through your nose saying ‘Calm” and exhale through your mouth saying “peace.”

This brings the focus from the mind and into the heart creating peace and calm.

3. Reduce Your Stress As A Parent

Energetically your child feels your stress and worry.

Everything is energy including your thoughts and it’s amazing how you can affect your child in a positive or negative way. Your energy field is what supports your child, they either feel your support, encouragement or love or they are bombarded with your fears, worries and doubts.

Some simple tips for you to use to release your worries and be in a position to truly support your teenager are:

• PAUSE and Breathe
• Ask your teen “What can I do to support you?”
• Ask yourself ‘What would LOVE DO in this situation?’

You can also support your teenager by saying:

“I am here for you”
“I see you are upset because of………”
“When you are ready let’s breathe together”

When you are able to distance yourself from the ‘drama’ and not take what is going on for your teenager personally you are able to see the situation from a completely new perspective and then offer the type of support they need in the moment.

Let them know they are loved no matter what and that you are always there for them and ready to listen to their successes and their challenges.

These 3 key tips will not only help reduce stress and anxiety in your teenager, but also create a beautiful connection between you both where they feel heard and acknowledged.