What does a washing machine have in common with worrying?

How to stop worrying and negative thoughts in 4 simple steps.

This analogy is one of my favourite ways to explain what anxiety/ worrying can feel like. The article above also gives 4 easy steps to use to train yourself to come out ( and stay out!) of the washing machine full of worries, negative thoughts and anxiety. Anxiety is part of a vast range of feelings we can all experience in our lives. When everything is well balanced, anxiety is actually a way to keep us safe and avoid taking unnecessary risks. It is an emotion that alerts us to danger. However, when anxiety and worry stop us to be content, happy, sociable then it is a bit like being stuck in a washing machine : very unpleasant! Children, teenagers, adults can all experience an overwhelming sense of worry and anxiety which, in turn, can affect one’s behaviour and self-esteem.

At Howard Primary we are very mindful in the way we teach children about feelings and how to detect overpowering emotions. We use a program called Zones of Regulation which teaches children how to put together a range of tools to support a good , healthy emotional balance.

One of the tools we practise is called mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it. Mindfulness activities help us to:

• pay attention to the feelings we have
• process those feelings
• respond to the feelings in a controlled way

The video below goes through a range of benefits of mindfulness. In my next post I will talk about how we can pay attention to the feelings we have.

Feel free to comment or to contact me on : sdalziopolling.306@lgflmail.org