Calming your emotions is about turning down the intensity, quietening the deafening noise made by the physical symptoms and racing cognitions (thoughts) so that you are not immobilised by it.

But it does not mean ignoring or dismissing the feeling, in fact the first step in calming is acknowledging, recognising the feeling and the function it serves. To do this it is important that you learn the meaning, purpose and physiological expression of the emotion.

Engaging with the feeling, you can then regulate, and understanding your physiology helps with this as you disengage your body from automatic pilot to conscious control of key areas like your breathing and attention.

But to achieve this in the moment you have to develop your ability to consciously control these by exercising or practicing these skills.

Take for instance 4 or square breathing.  Despite the video illustration this is not primarily for kids and in fact is used to train military personnel and help them to prepare for combat.

The video however is simple and a great way to engage children.