Every emotion we experience can become intense at times, which makes us want to act
in certain ways. When Harold the hedgehog was feeling a lot of anger and sadness, he ran away and started crying. However, Harold learned that when these big emotions take over, the best thing we can do is grab something calming, like the items in Harold’s self-care backpack, to help us feel better. These calming items can help bring us back to the present moment. After our intense emotions pass we will be better able to choose how to handle challenging moments.
Here is a summary of the key points from the video.
• Everyone feels big and intense emotions sometimes.
• Everyone has urges to act that are caused by big, intense, and uncomfortable emotions. The key is riding out the urge and waiting for big feelings to lessen.
• You can ride out big feelings by using your five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) to ground to the present.
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The California Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project is series of free, evidence-based video and print resources that caregivers and educators can use to teach their kids critical mental health and coping skills. The project was born of an innovative partnership between the state of California and the Child Mind Institute.
https://childmind.org/healthyminds