Here at Lighthouse Transitional Care, we play a lot of  fun and crazy games together and generally have an amazing time! But outside of these meetings and activities, we know our young adults are struggling. Sometimes, a tough commute on the way to a class or meeting can cause them to completely flip their lid.

What’s why, we consider it our jobs to help them, and to teach them how to regulate their systems: Minds, bodies, emotions and spirits. We know that they’ve grown up in chaos: experiencing neglect and abuse, living constantly in a state of “survival mode,” and/or navigating the complexities of institutional care or the instability of foster care.

Because of this, they aren’t naturally aware of how to regulate their systems on their own.

But we know that if we can model the journey from dysregulation to regulation and integration in a safe environment, they can take these skills with them and begin to prioritize regulation in their everyday lives.

So, now to the nitty gritty: How do we do this? 

Before we get into the list, I’ll mention nutrition briefly. I guess you could call eating an “activity,” but we think of it as an essential. The first thing we do when a young adult comes into our office is offer them water (or tea or coffee depending on the time of day) and a balanced snack including some form of protein. This is our starting point because our body needs food and water to regulate. After that, we can choose from one of the following activities: 

1. Body scan

Have you tried a body scan before? If not, check out one of the many guided body scan resources available on YouTube. We’ve done these mostly in group environments, and our young adults have been extremely receptive to this. Those that might not have been interested in the activity at the beginning were won over after one experience. It leaves everyone much more in touch with how their bodies are feeling. Many feel more tired, because we do this in the evenings. Others notice, “Hey, I am actually hungry. I think I’ll get that snack!” Others might be able to tell where they are holding tension—all huge wins.

Due to just how relaxing this activity can be, we don’t usually do much more teaching or instruction following one of these activities, but you could try!

2. Listening to music

Music is healing. There’s no question about that. We offer music to our youth before difficult one-on-one meetings, or if they need a break. Sitting in a dark room alone for just three minutes of a song will often bring young adults back to our offices ready to talk, listen and learn.

3. Sitting under a weighted blanket

This is another good one for a one-on-one meeting if a youth is a little more “red.” We normalize using the weighted blanket by using it ourselves—and often. If a young adult likes the feeling of the weighted blanket, we offer it for the entire duration of a meeting or a class.

4. Traditional breath work

Deep belly breathing. Four-count breathing. 4-8-7 breathing. Alternate-nasal breathing. We do it all. And you can google any of these techniques if you’re not familiar with them. Once a young adult understands the importance of breathing, they will be willing to try the kinds of traditional breath work I mentioned, or any of these other, more playful breathing techniques:

5. “Up and down the mountain”

For this activity, participants hold one hand out in front of their bodies. With the pointer finger of the opposite hand, point to the bottom of your pinky finger with an exhale. Inhale, and move up to the top of the pinky finger. Inhale down the other side of the pinky finger, and continue until you get to the bottom of the thumb.

6. “Drawing boxes”

Point out in front of you and draw an invisible box. It can start small, and continue to get bigger. Breathe in as you draw one side, breathe out as you draw the next side and continue… probably until your arm gets tired!

7. “Blowing on our soup”

Finally, hold an imaginary cup of soup in your hands. Smell your soup, and then blow on your soup to cool it down. Repeat until your “soup” has cooled off.

I hope you enjoyed this list! Let me know in the comments if you’re familiar with these or other regulation activities, or if you try any of these out for yourself or the people you work with!