Inspired to Change

Top Tips for Heading Back to School

 

 

Top Tips for Heading Back to School

Change can be good, but it’s not always easy. So what can we do to help our children to switch from the laid-back fun of the summer holidays to rules, homework and routines? Check out our top tips below:

Tip 1 – Focus on the Positives

Help your children to focus on the positive things that happen each day.  When they get home from school don’t ask them how their day has been, instead ask them “What has been good about your day?”  This slight change in language encourages our brain to notice the positive things that have happened during the day rather than focusing on the negative things which will lead to more worry and anxiety.

Tip 2 – Talk

Help your children to know they are not alone and that it’s normal to feel a bit of anxiety in a new or different situation.  Look out for any of the symptoms mentioned in our “Back to School – No Worries!” blog and encourage them to talk to you or someone else if they feel they are struggling.

Tip 3 – Do Your Best

Don’t aim for perfection, instead just do the best you can.  There can be a lot of pressure to perform, achieve high grades, get on with everyone, wear the best clothes etc.  Helping our children to realise that perfection isn’t something realistic to aim for and knowing that just doing the best you can is all that is required can remove a huge amount of that pressure.

Tip 4 – Exercise

Encourage your children to include regular daily exercise in their routine. It doesn’t have to be a 10 mile run, just a 20 minute walk can be all that’s needed.  It isn’t just good for our physical health, it’s also an essential part of our mental wellbeing too, releasing feel good hormones into our system that help us feel better. There is a lot of research out there that shows how exercise helps us to learn and concentrate better, retain that information and retrieve it faster later on when we need it.

Tip 5 – Get the right nutrition

Eat well and stay hydrated – just like exercise, this is essential not only for our physical wellbeing but for our mental wellbeing too.  There is a growing body of evidence linking our diets to our mental health.  We know that the food we eat affects how we feel, think and behave so encouraging our children to eat a healthy and balanced diet with as much non-processed fresh foods as possible, and hydrating with water rather than fizzy sweet drinks, can keep us on the right track.

Tip 6 – Get those zzzz’s in!

Helping our children (and ourselves!) to get a good night’s sleep is essential to our wellbeing.  Not only does sleep help us to restore our bodies but it also helps us to restore our minds helping us to make the most of our amazing brains and all the resources it has to help us learn, be creative and have fun.  So next time you’re tempted to watch just one more episode of your favourite box set, think again, an extra half hour shut eye could make all the difference.

 

If you’d like to find out how hypnotherapy can help you with the challenges of heading back to school, get in touch with one of our Inspired to Change hypnotherapists and book your FREE initial consultation.

Inspired to Change Hypnotherapists are all recognised by the National Council for Hypnotherapy, the UK’s leading not-for-profit hypnotherapy professional association.

Find out how you can train as a solution focused hypnotherapist with CPHT.