Robot and Noodle Relaxation

What you need

• Blanket, 1

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Pick a quiet spot with room to lie flat. Dim the lights if you like.

1. Lie on your back on the blanket with your arms by your sides.
2. Take three slow breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
3. Robot toes! Squeeze them tight for five seconds, then go floppy.
4. Now squeeze your feet, then your legs, then let them go noodle-floppy.
5. Tighten your tummy like a robot, then melt it like a noodle.
6. Make robot fists, then tense your arms, then let them flop.
7. Lift your shoulders up to your ears, then drop them. Scrunch your face, then relax.
8. Let your whole body go limp and lie still for one minute.
   Ask: Which parts of your body feel heavy or warm right now?
9. Swap! Now you read the body parts while your grown-up does robot and noodle.
   Ask: Which part felt the most noodle-y, and what will you try next time?

Play it again

• Bedtime noodle: do it in pajamas just before sleep, with the lights low.
• Story robot: add a short calm story, and tense and release at each new character.
• Statue to jelly: tense the whole body at once like a statue, then melt like jelly.