Guided breathing: What is it? 👀

Guided breathing is a deep breathing exercise to help children (and adults alike) manage their stress, feel calmer and improve their focus.
The idea is that your children follow visual or spoken instructions, telling them when to breathe in and when to breathe out. This can be in the form of a drawing, movement or a pictorial story.

At Mine4Sure, we’ve designed printable guided breathing animal cards to help your children get into these deep breathing exercises, in a fun and meaningful way. Hence our choice for funny and cute animals. These adorable Mine4Sure characters, found on the personalised water bottle kids love, accompany the children step by step in their breathing exercises.

👉🏻 How to use the guided deep breathing card?

Each card features a visual path with arrows that indicate when to breathe in and out.
The child places their finger on the starting point and slowly follows the arrows:

• Breathing in → take a deep breath in through the noise,

• Breathing out → exhale slowly through the mouth.

Following the arrows with their finger acts as a cue, helping the child regulate their breathing to a regular rythm.
Repeating the exercise several times helps the child to gradually become calmer, more relaxed and more focused.

The breathing should be deep belly breaths, not shallow chest breaths. When they breathe in, their belly should expand, and when they breathe out, their belly should contract.

Top tip: In order to make your cards last longer, we recommend to print your labels on thick-ish paper or to stick them on some card, but you can also use cardboard 😉
Display them on the wall, so your child can see them easily and use them when need be. But you can also tidy them where they can be accessed easily without asking.

With these 4 cards, your child discover several breathing techniques associated to 4 cute animals: Fluffy, Whiskers, Splash et Zippy.
Your child can try each of them, then choose the one or those that they feel is more effective in helping them calm down and relax.

Fluffy the sheep: soothing as a stroll in the countryside
Like a sheep peacefully grazing in its field, breathe slowly and calmly. A simple exercise to calm down during little moments of stress.

Whiskers the kitten: gentle as a kitten’s cuddle
Like stroking a kitten, children can repeat this gesture as many times as they need, until they feel calm and relaxed.

 Splash the octopus: Deep sea calm
A slightly more complex movement that requires concentration: perfect for waiting, releasing the pressure and calming down.

Zippy the girafe : Like a ray of sunshine
With the girafe, your child stretches out towards the sky breathing in, and let go slowly breathing out. A fun technique to feel lighter, taller and chase away any little worries.

⏰ When to use our breathing cards with your child?

Use the breathing cards any time of the day, Les fiches de respiration guidée peuvent être utilisées à tout moment de la journée, depending on the child’s needs.

• Before leaving for school in the morning: for a calm and serene start of the day.

• After a big emotional moment: to help your child refocus.

• Before going to bed: to establish a soothing ritual and make falling asleep easier.

• Just before or when taking a break while doing homework or during an activity: improves concentration and helps to focus.

• When waiting (for appointments, in the car, etc): to learn patience.

✨ The benefits of guided breathing?

There are many benefits to deep breathing. This breathing technique offers an effective strategy to draw on whenever you need to relax. Thi is because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves handling the body’s relaxation response.

• Deep breathing helps children channel their emotions

• Manage stress, reduce feelings of anxiety

• Improve focus and concentration.

• Feel calmer. Done together with siblings and parents, it is also a meaningful time as a family.

👉 Download for free all our printable and get your child to choose their favourite animal to breath everyday!

Discover more great printables, DIYs and tips on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!