Differently Wired 7-Day Challenge: Day 1
Welcome to Day 1 of the Differently Wired 7-Day Challenge! I’m so glad you’re here!
I know you are super busy and so I’m just going to jump right in. Today’s TILT is to become an expert at breathing. Yes, breathing.
And I’m going to tell you what I mean right now. So…stop what you’re doing, take a deep inhale, hold it in for a count of five, and slowly blow it out through your mouth. Now do it again. Inhale, count to five, slowly exhale. And one last time. In, hold, out.
Okay. Got it? Good. Because that super simple action can be a game-changer.
It was a parent coach I worked with, Margaret Webb, who introduced me to this tool four years ago as a tool to use when I needed to figure out how to handle particularly difficult situations with Asher. I remember at the time, I was thinking like, Yeah, yeah, deep breaths… that doesn’t actually fix anything.
But then I tried it. Like, honestly committed to doing it, no matter how upset or frustrated I was with what was happening right in front of me, and you know what?
It works.
When you can stop before you react to what’s happening with your child and take that deep breath, hold it in, and slowly exhale, it will not only shift your energy, but quite often your child’s right along with you. The bonus? Once you have this tool in your toolkit, you will feel more in control when the crap hits the fan because you have a plan. Plus, it gets easier with practice.
Your Challenge:
Commit to taking a breath, counting to five, and slowly exhaling when you’re in a tough situation with your child at least one time each day. Unless of course you have a day with no difficult situation, in which case, awesome! But, assuming you are taking these breaths, notice how they changed what was happening, both for you and your child.
Oh, and one last thing… to download the Differently-Wired 7 Day Challenge workbook, click on the link below. It’s a PDF workbook you can print out and fill in as you go along.