Help your teen understand and achieve mental balance

A balanced mind is difficult to define. If you are a parent, it means your child should be emotionally and intellectually clear, and able to express himself or herself in a way comprehensible to others. But kids turn into bundles of nerves when they hit the teen years. Here’s how to help them compose their mind in a way that helps them think clearly.  

Teach your teen to respect their own emotions  
Teens may feel intense emotions, get unnerved, and try to push those feelings away. It’s not just about burying anger, frustration or hatred. Teens may feel expressing joy is childish, hugging their parents is mushy, and pride in conquering a new programming language is a sign of being stuck up. Tell them they should allow their emotions to blossom to the full extent, but manage the outward expression in a way that shouldn’t hurt others. It’s okay to giggle and cry, both are valid emotions, and call for expression.  

Help them meditate with concentration exercises 
Meditation is not just deep breathing. Ideally, enrol your teen in a mindfulness, meditation or yoga course. Learning from a good and professional teacher always helps. Once they learn to calm their mind, they will learn to identify and face emotions, and also focus more.   

Get your teen to be active  
Physical exercise is a great way for teens to let off steam. Yes, the old punching bag or a quick walk to get some sweat still work very well. Physical activity tells teenagers that their heads are, after all, part of their body. Exercise also releases endorphins, a mood lifter to help teens balance their hormones, literally. 

Motivate your teen to sleep well  
As kids move towards high school, it becomes increasingly ‘in’ to show off how long they can stay awake. So, teens start ignoring sleep to study late into the night, even if they have plenty of time to do it at day. Get them back to a healthy sleep schedule, and enforce it. Once they realise that staying up to chat on social media might damage them physically and intellectually, they will drop out of the habit.  

Encourage creativity in teens 
Whether it painting, coding or gardening, encourage creativity. Being engaged in a favourite creative activity is one of the best ways a teen can express themselves.