Being a teen isn’t easy.
That’s because the teen years are filled with tremendous change, including internal changes, social changes, and the shifting psychology of gradually making the change from child to young adult. Hormones are going crazy, you’re trying to figure things out, attempting to establish your place in the world, and perhaps discovering the opposite sex for the first time.
This period of human development often fills a teen with anxiety. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place for advice. This article takes a look at how to help an anxious teen get through such a confusing stage in life. Keep reading to discover insight into how to make their transition into adulthood a bit less stressful.
1. Teach Them How to Meditate
In recent years, more and more people have begun to discover the benefits of mindfulness meditation. This is a practice that enables the individual to realize that much of their mental activity is involuntary. In other words, thinking more or less happens automatically.
Meditation helps you separate from your thoughts, thus you can choose to ignore them rather than being controlled by them. You teen can meditate for as little as a few seconds at a time, allowing them to take a deep breath while the feelings of anxiety simply rise and fall like the waves in the ocean. You could also get them one of these beautiful fidget rings to help them calm themselves down further when an anxious episode ensues.
2. Teach Them that Feelings Will Pass
Meditation also teaches you that feelings come and go. That’s right, all feelings are temporary. The key is to learn to relax the mind enough to give anxious thoughts the space needed to pass from your focus. This is obviously very important for reducing anxiety in teenagers.
3. Help Them Connect with Others
Spending time with peers can also help reduce anxiety. Teens can often relate to each other more than they can with adults. This is perfectly natural and normal.
The key is to choose the right type of friends and then communicate effectively with them. Quality social interaction during teen years is one of the best ways for a young person to realize they aren’t the only person feelings you’re feeling.
Here’s a resource where you can learn more about social anxiety in teens.
4. Teach Then to Focus on Positive Things
It’s very easy to experience a repeating pattern of negative thoughts. After all, people in the modern world are constantly bombarded with negative imagery that causes tremendous anxiety.
Because of this, it’s not unusual for a teen to lose sight of the beauty that surrounds them. Thus you need to remind them of how wonderful the word is, that they have family and friends who love them and that they can become anything they work hard to achieve.
5. Make Sure They Get Enough Sleep and Exercise
Never overlook the value of quality sleep and exercise. After all, the body needs rest. In fact, a teen should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Exercise is also important. A young person needs cardiovascular exercise as many times a week as possible in order to sweat and develop strong muscles.
A Guide to Ways You Can Help a Teen with Anxiety
Growing up can often feel like an impossible challenge. Fortunately, these tips for helping a teen with anxiety can help them develop into a healthy and happy person.
Keep scrolling to discover more helpful lifestyle advice on this blog.