Your Movements More Mindful: Techniques to Help Young People Improve their Mental Health

Improving mental health shouldn’t be stressful, costly, or time-consuming, especially for young people. There are many simple mindful techniques they can incorporate into their day to enhance their health and wellbeing.

We understand that time is precious, and for young people, balancing responsibilities, such as school, friends, hobbies, family and more can feel like juggling several balls while riding a unicycle! Therefore, they need effective techniques that can improve their everyday without adding to the load.

They may already have daily routines that offer moments to pause, like brewing a cup of tea in the morning or walking to school. These may not initially feel like mindful moments, but keep reading to discover how they could be.

Mindful Movement – Somatic Exercise

Somatic exercise is simply mindful movement—gentle, slow, and intentional. It can be found in ancient practices such as yoga, with growing research showing its positive impact on mental health.

One example of somatic movement is deep, purposeful breathing. This simple practice can help regulate the nervous system, leading to benefits such as a lower heart rate, reduced blood pressure, overall relaxation, pain relief, increased energy, and a shift away from the fight-or-flight response.

Here’s a simple breathing technique young people can do anywhere, anytime:

• Inhale through the nose, counting: 1, 2, 3, 4
• Hold the breath, counting: 1, 2
• Exhale through the mouth, counting: 1, 2, 3, 4

Encourage them to repeat this as many times as needed.

Observing Senses Through Counting

When life feels challenging and their minds race, young people can try observing their senses and counting what they can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. This technique can help distract and calm their minds.

Next time they feel overwhelmed, suggest they try counting:

• 5 things they can see
• 4 things they can hear
• 3 things they can feel
• 2 things they can smell
• 1 thing they can taste

Gratitude

A simple, regular gratitude practice has shown amazing benefits with minimal time investment for young people. Just expressing what they’re grateful for, whether in their heads, written down, or aloud, can make a difference.

Encourage them to start small and gradually build this practice into their daily routines. Benefits may include increased appreciation, improved mood, a more positive outlook, and a greater sense of purpose.

Here are some prompts they can use to get started:

• What’s a favorite thing about where they live?
• Who makes them laugh?
• What are they looking forward to this week?
• Name three people they love.

While it would be great to transform lives with one simple technique, life doesn’t work that way. As caregivers, teachers, or youth workers, you understand that improving mental health takes time, resilience, and a deeper understanding of individual needs.

The techniques shared above are small but effective changes young people can make in their daily lives to feel better. They can use them as standalone practices or be part of a bigger journey toward happiness, perhaps alongside therapy or counseling.

Written by: Catherine Williams, Delivery Manager at Bradford and James Moore, Mental Health Practitioner at Bradford.

We provide counselling and group programmes aimed at enhancing young people's mental health at our community. These are delivered from our hubs in Bradford and Cumbria. Your generous donations help us to change a young person's life.