For reasons too numerous to list, anger is all around us these days: our own anger or the anger of others. Simply naming that feeling can reduce stress.

When a child carefully builds a tower of blocks and his little brother knocks it over, the child usually feels mad. When that happens, simply asking the child how they feel and reflecting that back to them can be helpful. Recent studies suggest that simply naming your feeling can reduce your stress hormones by 30 percent!

One night when my children were young, my husband called to say he would be late. I must have gotten crabby without realizing it because my five year old asked: “Are you feeling mad?” I replied I felt mad his dad would be late. To my surprise, after I said I felt angry, the anger disappeared. Naming the feeling, bringing it to my awareness where I could take a look at it allowed the anger to dissipate.

Using the principles of The Happenings Mat can bring awareness to feelings. Children identify their feeling by saying it aloud or by simply touching the feelings face. Some of the feelings on the mat include: “mad,” “scared” and “surprised.’ Using the mat to put a name on feelings is a step towards getting clear and reducing stress!