It is back to school today for the start of the final term of the year. I cannot believe that my little girl is almost finished her first year of 'big school' - I'm so incredibly proud of her!
Back to school means different things to different people, particularly for parents and children! For many parents I know it means the chilled out, no rushing, easy pace of school holiday mornings is replaced by frustrated cries of:
'Hurry up we're going to be late!'
'Quickly eat your breakfast then clean your teeth'
'Come On! Get dressed!'
'Have you got your lunchbox?'
'Where's your drink bottle?'
'Don't forget your homework folder'
'Hurry up! Shoes on, now!'
'Quick in the car'
'Seat belts on, hurry up!'
Can You Relate? Can you feel your frustration as you read this? It's tiring isn't it?
Now pause and think about how your child feels listening to this barrage first thing in the morning.
Stressed?
Life is busy. Life is really busy for adults with so many competing demands. Life is also really busy for children these days - rush rush rush! Image how they feel about going back to school.
Just the stress of getting out the door before they even make it into the playground can be quite overwhelming for some children. They are then faced with social pressures, to a degree far greater then we experienced as children - who to play with? who not to play with? what to play? what not to play? where to play? where not to play? what to wear? what not to wear? what to look like? what not to look like? what to say? what not to say?
Creating rules and boundaries are important for children, don't get me wrong. But we must consider the unwritten social rules that our children are facing everyday in the playground as well. For some children who are socially confident or have an inner confidence, this doesn't faze them, for others it creates another enormous stress before they have even entered the classroom.
Now add to their stress levels, the pressure to achieve in the classroom. A pressure that can come from a variety of sources - from parents, from teachers, from peers, from within!
Todays society places so much expectation on excelling and achieving, from what job you have, to how much money you make, to where you live, to what car you drive etc etc etc. Often well-meaning parents subconsciously project these social expectations onto their children, which simply adds to the pressure and stress levels that this generation of children are experiencing.
It breaks my heart to see children suffering from fear and anxiety as they walk into the playground. And I can see it. But don't be fooled. It is not just the child who latches onto their mothers leg and cries at being left at school.
It is the child who is 'the naughty one' in class, who seems fearless and yet is full of fear with no way to appropriately express it.
It is the child who is the smartest in the class, who constantly fears whether that is enough, whether they are enough.
It is the child who carries a label - ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, Allergies and carries the stigma attached to that.
It is the child who trys to be perfect, seeking the attention and admiration of the teacher.
It is the child who wets their pants.
It is the child who ends up in the sick bay with stomach pains.
It is the child who looks exhausted from inadequate sleep because they can't 'switch off'at night.
It is the child who is different, looks different, sounds different, acts different - because it's 'so not cool to be different'.
It is the child who stands back and won't have a go for fear of failure.
It is the child who bullies others.
It is the child who is bullied.
It brings joy to my heart to watch my little girl run off into the playground with her eyes shining with excitement, anticipating what lies ahead for her at school that day. However, I know she gets stressed and experiences fear and anxiety. Sometimes it's in relation to school, other times in relation to life in general. I just feel fortunate that I am able to combine my deep love of her, as her mother, and my skills as a kinesiologist to help her overcome her fear and anxieties and eleviate her stress.
She's a kid.
She's not suppose to be stressed.
Life is meant to be simple and fun and free - especially for children.
Kinesiology is such a powerful tool in being able to tap into the source of a client's stress and identify how it is effecting the client's energy. This stress may manifest physically, mentally or emotionally. Most importantly the gentle correction techniques applied are able to rebalance the client's energy around the cause of the stress.
Often 'homework' is required following a treatment to complete the integration of these changes. For children this could be brain integration exercises, use of an affirmation, a simple meditation or visualisation, some nutritional support in the form of supplements or it could be taking action on something that came up during the session (eg. saying something to someone that has needed to be said for a long time). I know when working with children, they often find their 'homework' quite empowering, as well as providing them with a sense of importance.
Sometimes children do not even know the cause of their stress, anxiety or fear. Other times they know but are too fearful to say or simply don't know how to articulate it. Sometimes they don't even know what it is that causes their heart to race, their sleepless nights, their angry outbursts, their tummy to ache....sometimes it is so deeply embedded in their subconcious they cannot identify it, they just know it is there. And that is where Kinesiology can help, because it can access the subconcious and allow the underlying cause of stress, anxiety and fear to be safely and gently identified and addressed!
I know that my purpose in life is to assist others to enhance their life so that they can live the most fulfilling life possible. And I am so passionate about helping children overcome their fears and anxiety, so that they can grow into amazing adults who confidently make courageous, fearless decisions, who trust in themselves, their inner knowing and who can just let go of life's stresses and allow themselves to live an amazingly fulfilled life full of happiness, health and love - of themselves and others!
