Strategies for Alleviating Parental Worry During Tumultuous Periods
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In the hustle and bustle of parenting, especially during summer break, it can be challenging to maintain a sense of calm and control. However, mindfulness practices such as square breathing, mindful appreciation, and meditation offer accessible and effective tools to help parents navigate through stressful and uncertain times.
Square Breathing: A Simple Technique for Calm and Balance
Square breathing is a rhythmic breathing pattern that involves inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding each for four seconds. This practice helps calm and balance the nervous system, reducing anxiety and physical tension[1]. To perform square breathing, simply imagine a box in your mind and take a deep breath for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and repeat as needed.
Mindful Appreciation: Embracing Positivity
Mindful appreciation encourages parents to reconnect with positive moments or sensations in the present, fostering emotional resilience. This grounding practice can shift focus away from stressors and towards small, uplifting experiences throughout the day. Identifying five things for which one is grateful can be a simple way to practice gratitude.
Meditation: A Flexible Stress-Reliever
Meditation offers flexible and accessible ways for parents to decompress and stay emotionally balanced. Short, consistent sessions—like a few minutes in the morning, during quiet moments in the day, or at bedtime—can create a lasting sense of calm and improve sleep, which is crucial for sustaining energy and patience[3]. Even brief meditations or body scans during child naps or commutes can significantly reduce stress.
Integrating mindfulness into daily parenting, such as practicing walking meditations while soothing children or using breathing exercises during brief private moments, helps parents maintain openness and non-resistance to challenging feelings. This approach can diminish the suffering that stress and worry bring, allowing parents to approach difficulties with greater ease[5].
Benefits of Mindfulness for Parents
- Calming physiological stress responses through controlled breathing techniques like square breathing[1].
- Boosting presence and intentionality, reducing emotional reactivity and promoting positive parenting choices during demanding summer days[1][4].
- Providing accessible moments of stress relief during daily routines, enhancing emotional regulation and resilience[3].
- Cultivating openness to experiences and reducing suffering, which is helpful in handling anxiety, uncertainty, and continuous caregiving demands[5].
Incorporating such mindfulness practices helps parents feel more patient, energized, and in control despite the unpredictability and intensity of summer break and other stressful parenting times.
Resources for Parents
For additional resources, parents can explore articles on topics such as avoiding avoidance, fostering emotional intelligence, and dealing with challenging behavior. Science has identified gratitude as a conduit for happiness and health, making it an essential practice for parents during stressful times.
This article was originally published several years ago and was most recently updated on Aug. 4, 2025 by associate editor Kari Hanson.
- To ensure a sense of calm and balance in the whirlwind of parenting, especially during summer break, parents can practice mindfulness techniques like square breathing, mindful appreciation, and meditation.
- By performing square breathing, which involves four-second intervals for inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding, parents can help regulate their nervous systems, reducing anxiety and physical tension.
- Practicing mindful appreciation encourages parents to acknowledge positive moments or sensations, fostering emotional resilience and emotional regulation.
- Meditation helps parents relieve stress, improve sleep, and stay emotionally balanced, with short, consistent sessions offering immediate and lasting benefits.
- Implementing mindfulness in daily parenting, such as walking meditations or breathing exercises, can help parents manage challenging feelings and reduce the suffering that stress brings.
- Parents can explore resources on topics like avoiding avoidance, fostering emotional intelligence, dealing with challenging behavior, and cultivating gratitude, as these practices can contribute to their personal growth, mental health, and overall well-being.
