Spooky Stories: How Mindfulness Helps When We Feel Scared

October is a month filled with spooky decorations, scary movies, and haunted houses. For many children, this can be a time of excitement, but for some, it can also bring feelings of fear and anxiety. Whether it’s the ghost stories told around the campfire or the eerie decorations in the neighborhood, these experiences can trigger powerful emotions in children—and adults too.

There are ways to regulate these powerful emotions. What if we use these moments of fear as opportunities to practice mindfulness? By doing so, we teach children (and remind ourselves) how to manage those emotions effectively. In this article, we’ll explore how mindfulness can help us face our fears and find calm, even in the spookiest of situations.

Understanding Fear and Its Physical Effects

Imagine yourself walking through a haunted house. The lights are dim, strange noises are coming from every direction, and you feel your heart start to race. Your palms might get sweaty, your muscles tense, and you may even feel a little shaky. These are all normal responses to fear, a powerful emotion that prepares our body to respond to danger.

But what’s really happening in your body? When we feel scared, our brain sends signals that release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones prepare us to either fight, freeze, or flee from the perceived threat. This is a helpful response when we’re actually in danger, but in the context of a haunted house or a scary movie, it can leave us feeling overwhelmed and on edge.

Mindfulness offers a way to interrupt this cycle of fear and bring ourselves back to a state of calm.

How Mindfulness Can Help

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment. It involves noticing what’s happening in our body, mind, and surroundings with a sense of curiosity rather than fear. When we apply mindfulness to our experience of fear, we can start to manage our emotional response rather than being controlled by it.

1. Hugging Breath: A Simple Technique for Finding Calm

One effective mindfulness technique is the Hugging Breath. This exercise is as comforting as it sounds and can be especially helpful for children when they’re feeling scared. Here’s how it works:

1. Cross your arms over your chest as if you’re giving yourself a big hug.
2. Take a deep breath in, feeling your chest rise against your arms.
3. Hold the breath for a moment.
4. Slowly exhale, feeling your body relax as you let go of the breath.

This simple practice can help to soothe the nervous system, making it easier to calm down when fear starts to take over. It’s a great tool to use anytime, whether you’re watching a scary movie, walking through a spooky part of town, or just feeling anxious.

Download Your Free Hugging Breath Exercise

Take the first step toward a calmer, more mindful Halloween season. Download the card and start practicing Hugging Breath today. It’s perfect for children and adults alike!

2. Noticing with Your Five Senses

Another mindful technique involves engaging the five senses. When fear strikes, our minds often become overwhelmed with thoughts of what might happen next. Grounding ourselves in the present moment by tuning into our senses can help to break this cycle.

Here’s a way to practice:

1. Notice five things you can see: Take a moment to look around and really notice your surroundings. What colors, shapes, and textures stand out to you?
2. Notice four things you can touch: Focus on the sensation of your clothes against your skin, the feel of your feet on the ground, or the texture of an object nearby.
3. Notice three things you can hear: Tune into the sounds around you. It could be the hum of a refrigerator, the rustle of leaves, or the distant sound of traffic.
4. Notice two things you can smell: Breathe in and notice any scents in the air. Is it the smell of food, fresh air, or something else?
5. Notice one thing you can taste: If you have something to eat or drink nearby, take a moment to savor the taste. Even just noticing the absence of taste can be grounding.

By bringing attention to our senses, we can distract the mind from scary thoughts and bring ourselves back to the safety of the present moment.

3. The Power of Imagination: From Haunted Houses to Peaceful Places

Our imagination is powerful, and it can either fuel our fears or help us find calm. Let’s try a little exercise:

First, close your eyes and imagine yourself in the middle of a haunted house. It’s dark, there are strange noises, and your heart starts to beat faster. Notice how your body reacts—perhaps you feel tense, your breathing becomes shallow, or your palms get sweaty.

Now, take a deep breath and imagine yourself in a different place—a peaceful, calm environment. Maybe it’s a sunny beach, a quiet forest, or your favorite cozy spot at home. Notice how your body starts to relax. Your heart rate slows, your muscles loosen, and you feel a sense of warmth and safety.

This exercise highlights how quickly our bodies can respond to what we imagine. Just by shifting your thoughts, you can change your emotional and physical state.

4. Counting Your Breaths: How Many to Calm Down?

Another simple but effective mindfulness practice is counting your breaths. This can be especially helpful when you’re feeling scared or anxious.

Start by sitting comfortably and taking a deep breath in. Count “one” as you inhale, then “two” as you exhale. Continue counting each breath until you reach ten, then start over. Pay attention to how your body feels with each breath. How many breaths does it take before you notice your heart rate slowing down and your body feeling more relaxed?

Breath counting is a great tool to use in any situation where you feel overwhelmed. It’s easy to do, requires no special equipment, and can be done anywhere.

The Real Scary Thing: High Cortisol Levels

We often think of spooky stories or haunted houses as things that scare us, but there’s something else that’s truly frightening—chronically high cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone that our body releases in response to fear or stress. While it’s useful in small doses, helping us to react quickly to danger, consistently high levels of cortisol can lead to a range of health issues, including anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and even heart disease.

Mindfulness practices like those described above can help to lower cortisol levels by activating the body’s relaxation response. By regularly practicing mindfulness, we can train our bodies to respond to stress in healthier ways, reducing the impact of cortisol over time.

Encouraging Kids to Embrace Mindfulness

Teaching children mindfulness techniques like Hugging Breath, noticing with the five senses, and imagining peaceful places can empower them to manage their fears and anxieties. These tools can be used not just during the spooky season, but anytime they feel overwhelmed by emotions.So the next time something goes bump in the night, remember—you have the power to breathe through it.