Five Powerful Tools to Support Trauma-Affected Students

Self-regulation is often difficult for trauma-affected youth. They need support in regulating their bodies and minds. This self-regulation I'm referring to is also known as self-soothing. When a student gets escalated, they often need to do something to return to baseline before they can participate in class. If you want to know what self-regulation tools you need to have in your classroom, read on! Help your trauma-affected students get themselves under control with five amazing and easy tools. 

Why, How, and What...
Each tool uses some physical component of the body to help students regain control of their mind. In previous posts, I've written about how our more primitive brain can take over if we feel threatened in some way. We can use tools that cue our more advanced brains, allowing us to regain control and get oxygen back to the brain. That's what these tools will do. 

1. Meditation: Be prepared with an easily accessible, internet independent device with guided meditations downloaded. You can also go even more low tech and use a CD player. Make sure you have quick and easy meditations, about 5-10 minutes long. Easy meditations include body scans and visualization exercises. These allow students to regulate their breathing and recenter into their bodies. 
2. Rocking with Weighted Blanket: Get your hands on a rocking chair, hammock, or inflatable ball and a weighted blanket. Make sure they're super easy for students to access and out of the way. Keep this activity short too, 5-10 minutes max. This should be enough time for students to regain control. The rhythm of rocking is so important for trauma-affected youth. It mimics the motions of being rocked in the womb or in a rocking chair as an infant. We use rocking to soothe infants and it works really well to soothe trauma-affected youth, helping to rewire their brains toward better self-regulation. The weighted blanket helps to ground the student and gives them a physical sensation that takes the attention away from the reason they were escalated. 
3. Yo-yo or Juggling: Do you have a classroom aide or someone who can take a student in the hallway for a minute? Get your student somewhere isolated so they're not distracting others. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Students can juggle using scarves (way easier than balls) or toss a yo-yo. The rhythm of these activities gives a focal point outside of their body to help their minds settle. 
4. Essential Oils: Get a few small bottles of relaxing essential oils and keep them handy. Some of the best scents to help students relax include chamomile, bergamot, ylang-ylang, and lavender (plus, you can use them when you're feeling stressed out!) This tool is good to use before students get upset. Do it preemptively. If you can be aware of your trauma-affected students' moods and energy levels,. You can pull these out when you see a student begin to become unsettled. Students love it when I walk around and drop a few drops in their palms. It's a nice break and is often enough to keep them from losing control. Bring them the oils (you can find out what everyone's favorite is), quietly ask them if they'd like a few drops, have them open their palms and drop some oil. Then, they rub their palms together, put their hands up to their nose, and take a breath in. Again, this is something outside the body for them to focus on. It also gets them breathing deeply, which slows heart rate and helps with relaxation. You might want to send a letter to parents to let them know and they can opt out. This will help you avoid any issues with allergies. 
5. Music: Just like with the guided meditation, use an internet independent device with music downloaded or use a CD player. Have relaxing music on the device. Students can grab the device and listen for 5-10 minutes. 

MIX IT UP!
As you can already imagine, you can use these tools together. For instance, give a student the meditation device, set them up in the rocking chair, and give them some essential oils to breathe in. They can be interchanged and combined in whatever way works for you. Be open to other things that students may think of as tools for gaining self-control. 

Conclusion
Guided meditations, rocking, weighted blankets, juggling or a yo-yo, essential oils, and relaxing music are all practical tools to help students regulate their baseline vitals. Getting heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and perspiration under control will allow students to more readily participate in class. In addition, it helps them develop self-regulation that they can employ whether or not the tools are available. Avoid punishing students' "bad" behavior, keep them in class, and help them grow with these 5 self-soothing tools. 

Check out the video that inspired this post! 
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