Hot Soup Breath
While eating soup may not be a stressful time and maybe not a place where someone needs to be breathing, it can be a great place to practice breath-work while our nervous system is regulated. It’s also a great way to imagine cooling down a hot bowl of soup in front of you using your breath. This is where Hot Soup comes in.
When the weather gets colder, or we get sick kids in the house, I make a different soup almost every day. Butternut squash soup, minestrone, tomato and many others. My kids are at age now too, where I can send soup in a thermos to school and its a great way to get in some healthy nutrients for them in the middle of the day. What a great opportunity to practice some breathing with hot soup breath.
Lets incorporate some deep breathing activities while waiting for our soup to cool down enough for us to eat!
Deep Breathing
Deep breathing exercises are designed to support self-regulation, mindfulness and brain break needs.
Many times, kids can struggle at home and school with anger or frustration and they lack the coping strategies needed in those situations. They require tools to improve self-regulation. This can occur both at school and home.
Children, like adults, experience worry and anxiety, fears and can be nervous in life situations and having simple strategies on hand can help them cope during the day.
One way to do this is to use mindfulness strategies like deep breathing exercises.
Children who practice mindfulness will find it much easier to focus and actively engage in the classroom. Practicing mindfulness and breathing exercises can be very powerful for kids as they grow and navigate the world we live in. Students in the classroom who use mindfulness will bring a sense of collective calm to the space as well making the learning environment more favorable for everyone. Incorporating mindfulness can be fun !
Making deep breathing fun and combining it with an activity like a birthday party or celebration can help kids practice their breath and use breathing as a way to cope or calm down.
How to:
- Imagine you have a bowl of hot soup in front of you.
- Relax your body and think of how yummy this soup will be.
- Take a long deep breath in and smell your delicious soup
- As you breathe out from your mouth, pretend you are cooling down your soup as you breathe out. blowing out the candle on your cake!
- Repeat as many times as needed.
Hot Soup Breath
Time Needed: 1-2 minutes
Location: A Quiet Place
Find a comfortable sitting position.
Ways to Use:
- Use the Poster as a Printable and hang it in the classroom, therapy room or at home.
- Use the deep breathing exercises as a brain break as needed to bring in some breathwork to your classroom or therapy sessions.
- Try this breath while waiting for your soup to cool.
- Pair it with a cooking activity and make some soup! Cooking can teach children essential life skills. There is a lot of development that occurs including measuring items, learning how to read a recipe, following directions, sequencing and problem solving. It can also help with fine motor skills, bilateral coordination and organization. Cooking with children can be so beneficial.
Let me know if you tried this breath and if your kids enjoyed it!
Try some of my other simple meditations for kids
