Turn on the TV, get on social media, talk to your friends and in no time at all you’ll start to hear about stress -- how stressed everyone is, how to relieve stress, and, if you’ve been in any of our groups, the effects stress can have on our bodies.

But where do we start? What do you do if you don’t KNOW what helps you to regulate and relax? My advice: start with your five senses. Taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing all keep us connected to the world around us. Take each of your senses and think of something that soothes you. Everyone’s list is different, because we’re all different. My list would look like this:

Taste: my favorite tea
Touch: petting my dog
Sight: trees, plants, anything green
Smell: coffee, the scent of my kids when I hug them
Sound: rain, wind, birds singing

Think about what is calming and soothing to you. This can be your starting point to help you regulate, to calm down and re-center. Often the same types of things you find calming will be calming for your kids, too. If you've been in my groups before, remember our Five Things Exercise?

Name Five things you can see
Four things you can hear
Three things you can feel
Two things you can smell
One thing you can taste

Deep breaths everyone. You can do this! 

Amy Cooper, MS
Family Coach, The  Family Center