Chill Out: Chill Skills Helps Students Find Calm and Confidence

When 12-year-old student Bridget Keener does her homework or takes a test, she employs techniques such as box breathing to calm down.

“You breathe in over the duration of four seconds. Then you hold it for four seconds,” Keener says. “Breathe out for four seconds, then hold for four seconds until you breathe in again.”

Often employed by Navy SEALs, box breathing is conducive to calming down the nervous system. It’s one of many techniques taught in Chill Skills — a unique elective class offered at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish School in Cuyahoga Falls.

Through teaching methods like brain dump journaling, using chunky fidget toys, coloring mandalas and more, Chill Skills gives students tools to identify and manage their stress levels.

“It feels nice that I can now recognize when I’m stressed, and now I know how to calm myself,” Keener says.

Instructor and occupational therapist Theresa Hoffman gives kids a toolset for decompressing.

“Middle school is a really good time to have a dedicated class for it,” she says. “There’s more expectations on the kids, more responsibility, a lot of emotions and changes in their lives.”

During the Friday class, Hoffman teaches various stress management strategies and discusses the science behind them. Then, the class practices them.

“They’ve done guided relaxation, it’s a form of meditation,” Hoffman notes. “We’ve done a whole day on sleep.”

Techniques also include belly breathing, which involves breathing deeply until the stomach moves outward, or appears to be full, from deep inhalation. This signals to the autonomic nervous system that it is not under stress, which can cause shallow breathing. Progressive muscle relaxation, another technique, helps students fall asleep. Starting at the feet, small groups of muscles are tensed, held and untensed — repeating up the body to the head, relaxing the body.

On days when students practice meditative techniques, Hoffman dims the lights, brings in blankets and creates a soothing atmosphere.

“When they’re done with that, they’re all so calm and quiet, and a lot of them are honestly smiling,” she says.

In a world where kids are busier than ever, a class like Chill Skills is a welcome change in the school day.

“It’s helpful to know these techniques to calm myself even more and to know them for the future,” Keener says. “I really like it. It helps me focus and feel better about myself.”