12/17/2025
“Slowly breathe in. Hold it. Then slowly exhale—breathe out.”
Taking those deep breaths in life is one of those things that helps get me through the day, because stress, overwhelm—all of it—can get to me as an adult, and it definitely gets the kids.
When we’re talking about finals week, people have all sorts of little quirks and ways they help calm themselves down. Some people bite their nails, which shows they’re nervous and may also struggle with calming themselves. Some people listen to other people eating on mukbang (you do you, boo). Some people like to pace. Some people, like myself, twirl their hair—but when I’m really stressed, that spot slowly becomes bald. This self-stimulating behavior (often called stimming) is common throughout the entire human population! It's just in individuals with autism or ADHD it's more prominent, frequent, and sometimes intense.
I made a blog post recently about how learning to regulate your body and increasing body awareness improves learning (especially true in math!). To understand, "I may be breathing too fast. I need to slow this down." You need to know where your lungs are and what they do!
Teaching kids about body awareness can help them understand how to regulate their nervous system because they have a name for what is going on and they have a name for where the feeling is originating from.
Understanding a little bit of basic anatomy and learning how to stop, take a breath, and understand who you are in your body can help learners during the difficult time of finals.
If you want to learn more, check out the blog post.
Peace out, y’all! ✌🏽
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Nervous system dysregulation is the cause of many math homework blow-ups. The following is an overview of how parents can help learners learn how to regulate their nervous system so Math homework breakdowns and arguments can be avoided.