Volcano Breathing 🌋

A fun, hands-on way to practice emotional regulation and calm down when emotions are building up!

To practice Volcano Breathing:

Step 1: “Build the Pressure”

Start by breathing in slowly through your nose, imagining that you’re filling up your body like a volcano filling with pressure.

As you inhale, raise your arms slowly over your head to visualize the growing pressure inside the volcano.

Step 2: “Explode!”

When you’re full of air, exhale forcefully through your mouth, like a volcano erupting.

As you exhale, quickly lower your arms and visualize the lava flowing down, releasing all that built-up pressure.

Step 3: Reflect

Talk about how emotions, like anger or frustration, can build up pressure inside our bodies, just like a volcano before it erupts.

Explain that breathing like this can help us release that “pressure” in a safe, controlled way.

Why Volcano Breaths Help:

Volcano breaths are a great way to help kids recognize and manage strong emotions like anger, frustration, or stress. It teaches them that it’s okay to feel emotions, and they can safely let out that energy using deep breathing.

Bonus Tip:

Practice Volcano Breathing a few times when your child is calm, so they’re familiar with it when emotions start to build up.