Why Big Feelings Are Normal, and How Movement Helps Kids Release Them

Children feel everything loudly. Joy, frustration, excitement, worry. Nothing arrives quietly. And for parents, it can be easy to see these big waves of emotion as something to fix or calm down quickly. But big feelings are not a sign that something is wrong, they are simply a sign that a child is human, growing, learning and trying to make sense of a world that sometimes feels far too big for their little bodies.

Big feelings are normal. They are healthy. And they are a part of childhood that deserves patience, not pressure.

Why Children Feel So Intensely

Children haven’t yet built the inner “scaffolding” adults rely on every day. They don’t have years of practice naming emotions or tools for managing rising tension. When something feels overwhelming, their body reacts first, and their words usually catch up later.

This means emotions show up as movement. A stomp. A shout. A sprint across the room. A tight grip on your hand. Their body is speaking before their vocabulary can.

When we see these moments as communication rather than misbehaviour, everything changes. Instead of stopping the feeling, we can guide it somewhere safe.

The Role of Movement

Movement is one of the most natural ways for children to regulate themselves. They instinctively use their bodies to shift energy, release stress and find comfort. This is why gentle, playful movement works so well when emotions run high. It gives children a way to “do something” with the feeling, not hide it.

Movement helps children:

• Release physical tension from their muscles

• Breathe a little deeper without realising

• Feel their body slowing down

• Reconnect with the present moment

• Regain a sense of safety when everything feels too much

This is the heart of what Hanu stands for, using movement to meet emotions where they are.

How Yoga Supports Emotional Release

Yoga offers tiny, accessible tools that children can use at any moment. It blends movement, imagination and breath, so it feels like play, not instruction.

Here are a few simple ways it helps:

Grounding through the feet
Standing poses like Tree Pose or Mountain Pose help children feel stable. When their feet connect firmly with the floor, the rest of the body softens.

Releasing tightness in the body
Forward folds, stretches or gentle twists help loosen the places tension hides, especially the shoulders and belly.

Making breath feel friendly
Slow breathing doesn’t have to be taught formally. It can be paired with imagery, like blowing up a big balloon or pretending to fog up a window. Breath brings calm from the inside out.

Turning imagination into a calming tool
Children calm faster when their imagination is engaged. That’s why Hanu’s poses are wrapped in stories. Instead of “take a deep breath,” it becomes “let’s help Hanu blow away the storm clouds.”

What Parents Can Do in the Moment

You don’t need to set up a yoga mat or create a perfect environment. Children regulate best through simple, repeatable patterns.

Try:

“Let’s shake it out.”
A quick whole-body shake to release energy before calming down.

“Let’s make our bodies big, then small.”
Stretch tall, curl into a tiny ball, repeat. It shifts the nervous system.

“Let’s find our tree feet.”
Plant their feet on the ground and let them balance. Focus naturally returns.

“Let’s breathe like the ocean.”
Slow waves in, slow waves out.

Just a few seconds of movement can interrupt overwhelm and give them space to reset.

Big Feelings Deserve Space, Not Shame

Children aren’t meant to hold everything inside. They are meant to move, express, tumble and release. When we give them permission to feel, and offer movement as a safe outlet, we teach them that emotions are not problems, they are messages.

This is the lesson woven into every Hanu story, every pose and every breath. Big feelings are part of growing up. Movement helps children understand them, move through them and come out the other side feeling safe again.