Enhancing Your Child’s Wellbeing: Exploring the Mind-Body Connection in Kids
Written By Dr. Carly Njaa | March 10 2023
Your Child is Connected Too! (Mind + Body)
We talk a lot about the mind-body connection here at Holistic Physiotherapy & Wellness. For anyone who needs a refresher, the mind-body connection is a link between your mental health (thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes) and your physical health. It strives to explain the many ways in which our emotions impact our health and well-being, and vice versa.
When you, the adult, feel happy and optimistic about the future, you might also feel like your body has more energy and your sleep is sounder, which in turn continues to boost your mood – a positive feedback loop!
On the flip side, when you experience stress or anxiety, your body may react in a variety of ways, from an upset stomach to fatigue or even high blood pressure. So, what happens to your child when they experience stress or anxiety?
The life of a young person can be every bit as challenging as that of the more mature among us. Changes in schools and routines, divorce, separation or loss of a parent, significant health complications from childhood disease. It’s important to not discount the stress of the child and the way that stress runs along the mind-body connection to affect their little bodies.
As parents and guardians, our number one priority is to protect the children who rely on us and trust us for their care. How can you teach your child to process their feelings in a way that heals, rather than harms, their body? How can you teach them about the mind-body connection in a way that they understand?
When talking to kids about complex scientific facts, it helps to have examples at your fingertips. What are their favorite activities and do they compete? A t-baller might understand that they get butterflies in their bellies when it’s their turn to bat because they are nervous. A school-aged child might feel tingly all over when a test is announced because they are worried about failing.
It’s important that we set our children up for physical AND emotional health from an early age. Learning intervention techniques that calm their bodies when they are frustrated, sad, or angry will pay dividends as they grow older and have to work out challenges more independently. Having the tools now will make them more equipped to self-regulate down the line.
One thing I cannot stress enough is that talking about mental health and normalizing it will only help our society become more at peace. Children need to know that the way they feel in their heart and their head is just as important as what goes on in their muscles, bones, and organs. And that if they feel like they need help with whatever it is they are thinking or feeling, that help is available.
Looking for age-appropriate ways to help kiddos tap into their own mind-body connection? The same things that help you relax in a tense situation will probably work for them. Many schools now teach children about box breathing (breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, pause for 4 and repeat). Kids often love learning about yoga poses from their yoga-practicing parents, so roll out a couple of mats. Cat and cow poses and downward-facing dog were always favorites in my house. When we’re really feeling motivated, we look up Cosmic Kids Yoga videos on YouTube, which mixes fun story-telling with easy-to-follow yogic movement.
Our integrated health team is also experienced in paediatric practice, and we can work with your child in the same holistic manner with which we treat adult patients. From physiotherapy and chiropractic care to massage and nutrition, our practitioners our committed to the health of the whole family. That includes the psycho-social-emotional well-being of youngsters.
Dr. Carly Njaa
D.C., B.Sc. Kin