the anxious teen
Many of our teens are experiencing anxiety. I am coaching more teens than ever and a good amount are anxious about starting the new school year. Let's face it, this pandemic did not in any way help our mental well being and these teens are feeling the repercussions of social isolation and fear.
As parents we sometimes feel helpless. We don’t want our children to feel anxious so we try to fix them. We go out of our way to try and make them happy. We start to hide our emotions and pretend to be happy all the time. I know we all want our kids to be happy but I think we are going about it the wrong way.
One thought I want to offer you is that we can not make our teens happy. It sounds crazy...right?
But OUR thoughts create OUR feelings. So our teens' thoughts create their feelings. What they think will in turn produce an emotion.
What you do for them does not create their feelings. They have a thought about the experience and then they could or could not feel happy, based upon the thought they are thinking.
For example, Have you ever bought something that you thought your teen would love just to make them happy? I know we all have done this from time to time. But when you gave it to them, they gave you this look of disappointment or not even impressed with what you got. It is because they had a thought about the gift that created this emotion within them.
I wanted to share some insight on how we can help our teens that are experiencing anxiety at the start of school or any time.
Let them know that feeling anxious is NORMAL. It is an emotion, a sensation in the body, and that is all it is!
Let them know, to not resist the anxiety but to actually invite it in and to feel it. What we resist, persists. Let your teen know that it is just an emotion and once you acknowledge it and invite it in, the feeling will subside.
Sit with them. No phones, no distractions. Just be present and breathe. Your calming breaths will start to synchronize with theirs.
Invite them to listen to healing music when going to sleep or waking up. 432 hertz and 852 hertz are helpful for people that are experiencing anxiety.
Lastly, get your teen support. Most of us were never taught how to process emotions. We were never taught different tools to help manage the mind and promote mental wellness. Life coaching is not therapy. Life coaching looks at the present and helps empower your teen to take intentional action on the thoughts and life they want to create. This investment in your teens' mental wellness will be a life changer. One that will help support them into the next stages of their life journey. Contact me to chat more!
