Travel Travails: Gratitude and Calm
Traveling to spend time with loved ones?
It’s the busiest time of the year to travel and weather can be a bit unpredictable. How we make the most of the time involves so many choices –
- Travel style — leave early or cut it close?
- Packing styles — be flexible and light or prepared for any situation?
- Packing for the kids — snacks, games, blankets, stuffies?
This week the team shares some thoughts for successfully navigating the holidays.
Erika gets rocking
When feeling a little overwhelmed, rocking can be so calming!
Hold onto your kids and rock or sway to help them calm, center, and regroup. Standing or sitting, this can be done with little fanfare.
Adults can find calm in tense situations this way too, whether rocking back and forth while standing or just sitting in a chair.
Joanna finds the fun
The holidays are the time to enjoy and allow fun to happen.
On the plane try playing a multi-player game and pass it around on the iPad. LIFE is a good one for this.
At home, UNO is simple for mixed ages and can get a little crazy!
Louise with tips for teens
Pack the electronics to keep the teens sane –
- Charge everything before you go
- Bring a charged spare battery
- Keep the chargers nearby
- Incentives — a new app purchase?
Leslie slows down
Look for the simple moments and let them happen by keeping plans flexible.
- Cooking together
- Playing games together
- Sitting or walking together
- Car rides together
Lynne heads outside
Get out for a walk!
Walk up and down the terminal instead of sitting when waiting for your flight.
Excuse yourself to get some fresh air and return calmer and more grounded.
A short stroll in nature is even better! The kids or grandparents may secretly appreciate you going outdoors together.
When the little ways to find calm don’t help, there may be more at play
- Anxious about the hurry up and wait of travel?
- Anxious about being out of your element while visiting?
- Stressed because the kids can’t get themselves under control?
Calm and self-regulation happen when the body is able to center itself and breathe more easily. Although this ability to be centered should be in place naturally, we find there are many reasons why this can become disorganized.
At Kinetic Konnections we look at how symmetrically your head, core, and limbs passively move. Any asymmetry creates a block in the ability to easily calm and/or regulate behaviors.
Studying you from the ground-up, our analytical process leads us to solve your puzzle of why you are still feeling stressed. We then use the gentle Bridging technique movements to reset the identified movement relationships, matching-up how your left and right sides work together. This allows you to breathe easy and stay calmer!