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Parents & KidsSep 20, 2023
3 Tips for Supporting Kids Through Tough Times
For little kids and teens alike, growing up is hard work! Kids face so many challenges when it comes to navigating the early stages of life. Young children may struggle with overwhelming emotions as they learn how to process them for the first time. Teens might face more situational challenges, like being the new kid in school or feeling pressure around academics.
Thankfully, there are many coping strategies kids and parents can use – including turning to the comforting support offered by Mother Nature.*
Practice Deep Breathing
When children get into meltdown mode, just know it’s their nervous system at work. One transformative life skill is learning how to switch from the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).
Anyone can stabilize their nervous system with slow, deep breaths. Teach kids and teens the box breathing method. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, then repeat 3-4 times. For young kids, you can simplify it by telling them to inhale like they’re smelling a flower, hold their breath like they’re underwater and exhale like they’re blowing out a candle.
Tune Into Nature
Connecting with nature is good for the soul. If you’re in love with the natural world like we are, you can just feel it in your bones – but there’s science to back it up, too. Research has shown that viewing plants and natural landscapes helps people feel more relaxed.1
Beyond just looking at nature, you can also give kids liquid herbal extracts. Our newest children’s product, Kids Herbal Hug™, was created for tough moments when kids need some extra TLC. It features a blend of Oat Seed, Passionflower, Mullein and Skullcap to support their nervous system and help them feel calm and comforted. We also added Sweet Orange essential oil to make it tasty. Keep it in your “toolkit” for days when they have big feels.*
Keep Track of the Good
When kids are going through a hard time, it’s easy to focus on everything that’s going wrong. Try keeping things optimistic by starting the day with positive affirmations. You can also write them down and slip them into their lunchbox or backpack. And when things do go right, make a big deal about it.
In the video below, our CEO Daniel Marple spends some time talking about Kids Herbal Hug with his daughter, Fallyn. This product started out as “Fallyn’s Herbal Hug” – a blend our herbalists made to comfort her as she assimilated to a new school. In one touching moment, Fallyn and Daniel talk about high-fiving after every school day that went well. They’re on a winning streak now!*
Behind the Scenes:
Creating Kids Herbal Hug™
Our mission is simple – we take care of plants, so they take care of people. And of course, that includes people in our own lives. Daniel Marple is the CEO of Herb Pharm, but he’s also an awesome, caring dad! Taking his role as our CEO meant moving from the Midwest to our headquarters in southern Oregon.
Moving is a hard transition for anyone, but especially kids. When his daughter Fallyn was having a tough time getting used to her new school, she needed some extra herbal TLC. Our herbalists got right to work, and came up with a special blend. It helped her so much, we decided to offer it for any other kids that might need a big hug from Mother Nature, too!*
Give Your Kids an Herbal Hug
This herbalist-crafted formula brings together Oat Seed, Passionflower, Mullein and Skullcap to support kids’ nervous systems (and all those big feels).*
SHOP NOWReferences
- [1] Jo H, Song C, Miyazaki Y. Physiological benefits of viewing nature: A systematic review of indoor experiments. International journal of environmental research and public health. November 27, 2019. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6926748/.