The Stress Nanny with Lindsay Miller
Mindfulness and stress management for families raising kids with big goals, big feelings, and everything in between.
Hosted by mindfulness coach Lindsay Miller, The Stress Nanny is full of practical strategies for calming anxious kids, supporting high-achievers, and teaching emotional regulation in everyday moments. Each episode offers easy-to-use mindfulness practices, stress management tips, and confidence-building tools that empower kids (and parents!) to navigate challenges with ease. Whether you’re raising a child who struggles with big feelings, a high-performing student-athlete, or simply want a calmer home, The Stress Nanny will give you the resources and encouragement you need.
The Stress Nanny with Lindsay Miller
Ep 187 From Top to Toe: How to Let Go When Your Mind Won't Slow
Ever found yourself staring at the ceiling, mind racing, unable to drift off to sleep? You're not alone. This episode was born from a conversation with one of my middle school clients who shared she'd been using regular podcast episodes to help calm her mind on sleepless nights. Together, we realized what she truly needed was a dedicated guided relaxation - and that's exactly what this special episode delivers. Thanks Liv!
Guided relaxations are among my favorite tools to share with children because they provide a simple yet powerful pathway to calm. Using the gentle imagery of a warm wave washing over the body, I'll guide you (or your child) through systematically releasing tension from the top of your head all the way down to your toes. You'll discover areas where you unconsciously hold stress and learn how to let it go through conscious breathing and body awareness.
What makes this practice particularly special is its versatility. While perfect for bedtime struggles, it works equally well for daytime moments when overwhelm strikes. The recording provides clear guidance for both scenarios - either drifting peacefully to sleep or gently returning to your day feeling refreshed and centered. Parents tell me their children often request this relaxation when they're feeling anxious or having trouble settling down.
Whether you're a parent seeking tools to help your child develop emotional regulation skills or someone looking for a moment of calm in your own busy life, this guided relaxation offers a gentle reset button. The practice takes just under thirteen minutes but provides benefits that last much longer. Give yourself or your child this gift of calm - your nervous system will thank you!
Lindsay Miller is a distinguished kids mindfulness coach, mindfulness educator and host of The Stress Nanny Podcast. She is known for her suitcase tricks and playful laugh. When she's not cheering on her daughter or rollerblading on local trails with her husband, you can find her using her 20+ years of child development study and mindfulness certification to dream up new ways to get kids excited about deep breathing. Having been featured on numerous podcasts, platforms and publications, Lindsay’s words of wisdom are high impact and leave a lasting impression wherever she goes.
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Welcome to the Stress Mammy, the podcast where we take the overwhelm out of parenting and help kids and parents build calm, confidence, and connection. I'm your host, Lindsay Miller, kids' mindfulness coach and cheerleader for busy families everywhere. Each week we'll explore simple tools, uplifting stories, and practical strategies to help your child learn emotional regulation, resilience, and self-confidence, while giving you a little more peace of mind too. I'm so glad you're here. Hi there. A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with one of my middle school clients. She mentioned to me that she had been listening to the podcast on a night when she couldn't go to sleep. And she needed to listen to something to help her mind settle. So she had just listened to a regular episode. As we got to chatting, we talked about what might have been supportive and what tools could have been useful for her in those moments. And we decided that we definitely needed a recorded guided relaxation for moments like that. Because while the podcast is great, there's nothing quite like a guided relaxation when it's time for bed. So this episode is dedicated to live, but I hope everybody is able to enjoy this guided relaxation. It's one of my favorite tools to share with kids because it's a really simple and effective way to settle. So wherever you are, go ahead and take a deep breath in. If you're somewhere where you can close your eyes and you feel comfortable closing your eyes, go ahead and do that and make yourself comfortable. Adjust anything around you. If you're laying down, feel free to adjust your pillow. Adjust any blankets. Really just get nice and cozy and settle in for a little bit more calm. Now with your eyes closed and your body comfortable, go ahead and take another deep breath in. And then let it out. And then another deep breath in. And let it out. Now we're gonna imagine relaxation washing over us like a nice warm wave. So beginning at the top of your head, notice your scalp where your hair is attached to your head, and imagine relaxation like a wave moving over your scalp, down the sides of your head. Imagine relaxation moving to your forehead, so loosen any tension that you're holding. Maybe you're scrunching your eyebrows together, maybe you're trying to squeeze your eyes tight shut. Just really let go and let the muscles in your face relax. So no lines in your forehead, no scrunched up eyes, just a gently relaxed forehead, gently relaxed eyes. Imagine that warm wave of relaxation flowing over your forehead, down across your eyes, letting go of any tension you're holding in your eyes. Feel relaxation move through your nose and your cheeks. Let go of any tension that you're holding in your jaw. So if you're clenching your jaw closed, let it go and let your mouth open up a little bit just gently. Imagine that warm wave of relaxation moving through your whole head. So from the top of your head, again, down your forehead to your eyes, your eyebrows, your eyelids, your nose, your cheeks, your jaw. Make sure your ears are relaxed. And then feel that warm wave of relaxation moving from your ears down to your neck. Now you might be scrunching up your shoulders a little bit, or you might notice that there's a little bit of tightness in your neck, like your neck is working. Let your head relax into whatever surfaces behind you so your neck doesn't have any work to do. And let your body relax. So that warm wave of relaxation is moving from the top of your head all the way through down your face, down the sides of your head, down your neck, and into your shoulders. So again, make sure those shoulders aren't scrunched up. Just lean back into whatever surface you're on and allow your shoulders to relax. Feel that warm wave of relaxation moving from your shoulders down your arms. So your biceps and your triceps, those are the top part of your arms by your shoulder, and then down through your elbows, and then your forearms. Let your wrists totally relax and your hands. So if you're clenching your hands, let them go and just relax those fingers, relax the palms of your hands. So now that warm wave of relaxation is moving from the top of our head all the way down our face, all the way down our neck, through our shoulders, and then on our arms all the way to our fingertips. So feel the whole top part of you relaxing. And then as we continue, allow that relaxation wave to move from your shoulders all the way down your torso. So let go of any tension you're holding in your back or in your belly. Let all the muscles in your chest relax. Let all the muscles in your back relax. So again, make sure you're just letting whatever surface you're on support you. So just lean back into it and notice that you don't have to hold on to anything. You can just let go and relax. And then feel that relaxation move from your back, that warm wave of relaxation. Let it move to your hips and your seat. And then let it flow all the way down your legs. So you're feeling relaxed in your quads. That's the top of your legs and your hamstrings, the backs of your legs. And then let your knees relax. So if your knees are tight and your legs are super, super straight, you might want to just let them bend a tiny bit so they can relax. If you have a pillow, you can prop that pillow up under your knees, and that feels really nice too. So feel that wave of relaxation. Move from your knees down your shins and your calves through your ankles, through the tops of your feet, and then through the bottoms of your feet. Those feet have been working so hard for you. So let's give them a break. And then through your toes, so all of you is relaxed from the top of your head all the way down. That warm wave of relaxation just travels down the whole length of your body. All your muscles are resting. You're not clenching anything, like holding your muscles tight. You're letting go, letting go of any tension. Now, in this place where we're so relaxed, and if you don't feel relaxed quite yet, that's okay. You can just keep letting go of tension as you notice it. And it's okay if you don't feel totally relaxed right now. Just keep breathing and allow yourself with every inhale to breathe in, calm. And then with every exhale, breathe out any tension. So that's like when we're squeezing our muscles really tight and we just feel like really tight all over. That's tension. So we want to try to let that go. So every time you exhale, just let go of a little more tension. So breathing in, calm. Imagining every time you breathe in, that that warm wave of relaxation is just flowing through you. And then as you breathe out, let go of any tension that wave finds. So if you have that wave traveling through you and you notice tension or tightness anywhere in your body, when you exhale, when you breathe out, let that tension go. So with every inhale, you're a little bit more relaxed. And with every exhale, you're even more relaxed. Inhale, calm, and exhale, tension, the stress, anything that makes you feel tight. Inhale, calm. Remember that warm wave of relaxation moving through us. And if there's any tension, let that go when you let go of the breath. If you're doing this before bed, this recording will end really soon, and you can just drift off to sleep. If you're doing this at another time of day, in order to have a little bit of a calm moment, you can slowly start to bring awareness back by wiggling your fingers, maybe touching your thumbs against your fingertips. And you can take a deep breath in and then open your eyes and start to move slowly back into your day. But again, if you're doing this before bed, you'll hear a little bit of music and then you can just drift off to sleep. Thanks for doing relaxation with me. Until next time.