Childhood anxiety is perfectly natural. The truth is, our world can be anxiety provoking for anyone. Kids are commonly afraid of the dark and may appear nervous about meeting strangers. They may also worry about school and making friends.However, if this anxiety becomes persistent and daily over the course of several months, your child might have an anxiety disorder. Other symptoms include:
- Restlessness
- Fatigue and/or insomnia
- Lack of appetite
- Lack of concentration
- Grumpiness or irritability
- Tension and stress
- Crying often
The options for helping anxious children include professional therapy and prescription medicines. You can also help calm your child’s anxiety with these natural approaches.
1. Yoga and Breathing Exercises
“When anxiety increases, changes occur in the body, including shallow breathing,” says Molly Harris, a board-certified occupational and yoga therapist who works with kids. “This can cause anxiety to increase, prolonging feelings of stress.” “In yoga, kids learn a ‘belly breath,’ which expands the diaphragm and fills the lungs. This activates a restful state via the parasympathetic nervous system. Heart rate slows, blood pressure lowers, and children feel a greater sense of calm.”
2. Get Enough Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that many Americans simply don’t get enough of naturally, despite the abundance of research out there showing it might be an effective natural treatment for anxiety. Magnesium is found in foods such as:
- Almonds
- Black beans
- Cashews
- Dark chocolate
- Spinach
- Whole wheat
- Quinoa
3. Face the fear
You should also encourage your child to face his/her fears. Don’t avoid triggers, because this can reinforce the anxiety. Try to think through stressful situations together. By going through the “what ifs” of your child’s fears, you might help him/her know what to do if this scary situation ever occurs. You should also model good anxiety coping yourself. If you’re dealing with stress or anxiety, show your child what you do to manage it.
4. Relax with home massages
If you notice your child has physical tension in his/her shoulders or other muscle groups, you can try to massage the tension away. This will also help your kid relax. You might even incorporate home massage with relaxation strategies, such as mindfulness moments. Letting go of this muscle tension could help your child calm down.
5. See a chiropractor
A chiropractor might also help your child’s anxiety. Generally speaking, a chiropractor will make adjustments and use massage therapy to relax your child’s body. In addition, he/she will make recommendations for diet and exercise so that your child stays as stress-free as possible.
6. Use Lemon Balm
This herb packs quite a punch in terms of its varied benefits: lemon balm has been shown to relieve stress, reduce anxiety, improve mood, and increase cognitive performance.5 This ability to improve both attention disorder symptoms and anxiety in one herb makes lemon balm a powerful tool! It smells and tastes similar to lemon, making it easy to incorporate into lemony drinks or even desserts. Lemon balm has been deemed safe even for young children and is considered a “must have” for kids.
