Meditation is an important component of anxiety work for teens. This week, check out our rainbow aura meditation, plus I’ve recorded the script so you can just lay back and relax!

Relaxation techniques are a huge part of anxiety therapy.

Kids and teens need to be able to calm down in order to move to the deeper, important work of therapy, whether that therapy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, like ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), or if that is a more trauma-informed therapy, like TF-CBT or EMDR.

Meditation has many, many benefits.

And a big one that we focus on here at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is stress reduction.

When meditation is used as a relaxation tool, we want to focus on our physical clues that our body is relaxed.

This warm light guided meditation is great for anxious kids and overwhelmed adults.

And like many meditations, it can apply to anyone who is really noticing a lot of stress being held in their body.

Don’t judge yourself!

Many people report experiencing panic attacks about panic attacks. Of course it makes sense to wish that you didn’t have to experience them. Or to wish that you were different. But when we judge ourselves, we can make this an unhealthy cycle - the panic, the guilt about the panic, the panic about the guilt about the panic… it’s a panic cycle! So break the cycle, and be kind to yourself. And practice your steps, even before you need them.

For anxious kids, teens, and college students, it can be very difficult to fall asleep at night.

Not falling asleep means being exhausted the next morning. And guess what happens the next morning? You're too tired to adequately respond to all of the stressors during your day. It's a vicious cycle - and it's super, super common. 

One of the ways to relax is to build up a regular relaxation practice.

This means incorporating regular exercise and healthy eating ALONG with relaxation practice, including breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, and visualization.

Everyone has a limit.

We can handle the anxiety, the frustration, the stress that comes up in our everyday life, until we just can't handle it anymore. We reach our tipping point. Our calm and collected bodies and brains give way to big outbursts, yelling, screaming, maybe even cursing out our friends or parents. We're no longer able to tolerate what's going on. We've passed the threshold of our "Window of Tolerance." So the question becomes: What can you handle?