Mayuri Breen Gonzalez – Anxiety in Children & Adolescents: Yoga and Mindfulness Skills to Create Calm, Navigate Stress, and Restore Emotional Balance

Outline

What is Causing Rising Childhood Anxiety?

• The Challenges of 21st Century Living for Kids
  • Disconnection
    • Adult technology use
    • Social media
    • Caregiver stress and distraction
  • Over-stimulation
    • Technology
    • Academic pressure
    • Changing expectations
    • Over scheduling
    • World events

Assessing for Anxiety – How Do Kids Cope?

• Common Reactions to Anxiety
  • Withdrawal
  • Procrastination
  • Perfectionism
  • Seeking reassurance and affirmation
  • Risk-taking and substance abuse
  • Relationship challenges
• Tools and resources children already have
• Implications for mental health and long term individual and community outcomes

Why Do We Have Anxiety and What is it Trying to Tell Us?

• Types of anxiety
• Anxiety and the brain-nervous system-body relationship
• Anxiety as necessary and functional – we all have it!
  • Gives us information
  • Can help us prepare for challenges
• What happens when anxiety becomes mal-adaptive?
  • Relationship between mindset and biology of the nervous system
  • Reduced decision making capacity
  • Increasing reactivity
  • Impact of frequent overwhelm
• Trauma and anxiety
• Relationship and the role of the adults in childhood anxiety

Yoga, Mindfulness and Resilience

• Embodied mindfulness practices build the capacity to navigate stress
• Reading the messages of the body
  • Recognizing the early warning signs of anxiety
  • Checking in with my body
• Engaging and strengthening our inner resources
  • Body
  • Breath
  • Mindset

Activities for Managing Escalating Emotions and Finding Equilibrium

• Grounding
  • Feeling my feet
  • Somatic holds
• Orienting
  • Layers of sound
  • Five senses
  • Tapping
• Managing intrusive thoughts and rumination
  • Single pointed focus
  • Naming my thoughts

What to Do When Anxiety Shows up: Response Strategy Skills

• Ask for help
  • Partner chair pose
• Take a break
  • Calming breath
  • Legs up the wall
• Keep trying
  • Managing frustration and other strong emotions
  • Standing balance
  • Chair pose

Practices for Building Agency and Personal Power to Enhance Resilience

• Change your mindset, change your nervous system
  • The warriors
  • Finger affirmations
  • Mountain top visualization
• Harness the power of helping others
  • Partner warrior three
  • Leading a practice

Activities to Fight Anxiety with Connection and Attunement

• Imaginary ball pass
• Rainstorm
• Crazy 8s
• Kind wishes