Somatosensory breathing- hands and mouth

Sometimes "take a deep breath" doesn't work when kids are feeling intense emotions. This is because they feel the sensations of the emotions in their bodies (and also because they haven't developed proficiency with deep breathing). The deep breath doesn't get rid of the tension or burning or shaky sensations, so they need something else to release it. When we combine sensory input with deep breathing, we can send a more powerful signal to our brains that we are ok. This resource provides a lesson on these concepts for kids and also 6 exercises they can try to help regulate physical sensations associated with big emotions.