Eli is jumping off the walls. He’s running circles in the house, knocking things over with no awareness of his body in space. You know he’s unwound, dis-regulated, hyper-aroused, overstimulated and all the other words we use to describe a child who is not in control. You try to STOP him, calm him, settle him down. But his body is at a 10 and you’re asking for it to shift to a 1. It’s time for a rhythm building exercise which matches his level (10) and slowly brings him down (2,3,4,5ish).

The following activities are great for helping your child regain a sense of control over his or her body and return to a more regulated state.

1) Walk the Stairs to a Count

– Start doing this hand-in-hand at the child’s pace to a count (1,2,3,4…). Your child is releasing energy (body tension) with a rhythmic, repetitive exercise that allows him to gradually slow his body down. It gets him both active and regulated and is practical (stairs can be found anywhere). Not to mention, he may begin to gain some awareness around his own body rhythm and eventually use these exercises independently.

2) Hand-in-hand Rocking  to a count

– Start by facing one another hand-in-hand and rocking back and forth at your child’s current rhythm. Gradually bring the rhythm down to a place that you feel is more regulated.

-This is fun to do with a metronome (free IPHONE app www.marketwall.com). The metronome can start at a fast pace and slowly make its way to a crawl.

3) Swinging is a great way (hammock, in the back yard, at the park) to regain a more calm body rhythm. Counting is always helpful because it gives the child a verbal idea of their current rhythm (“Lets see if we can slow you down”).

There are a million more rhythm building exercise (jogging, spinning to a count, walking, dancing, singing…Neil Young’s “Old Man” especially, etc) . I advise parents to implement these semi-structured rhythm building exercises into the daily schedule. They are beneficial both from a fitness standpoint as well as being a proactive measure for helping your child alleviate built up tension that accumulates throughout the day.

Picture: My brother Doug and I stair climbing in Korea.