If you think your life is stressful, then spare a moment to consider your teenager’s!
Yes, it might seem like they spend a lot of time lost in technology. But, that is part of the pressure of being a modern teenager. Helping them find balance while navigating high school and friendships may feel like an impossible task as a parent.
They're also dealing with an increased workload, peer pressure, bullying, and nerves about their future - all the while trying to find who they really are.
It can be pretty stressful.
As our teens independence grows, they may retreat into a shell. They are less and less likely to have heart to heart conversations with you about their day. This can often be a difficult transition for parents adjusting to these murky waters of preadolescence.
How can they release that stress if they are bottling everything up inside?
A spa pool might be the answer your family is looking for.
Let’s take a quick look at how a spa pool can help your teen’s stress management. And, as an added bonus, it can help with yours too!
How Does A Spa Pool Help With Stress Management?
It's no surprise, the warmth and relaxing environment of a spa pool is a distraction free zone. It isn’t a place for texting, phone calls or scrolling social media.
Instead, it can be a safe zone away from the modern pressures your teen may be experiencing.
It is a perfect and natural setting for reconnecting with your teen, for discovering what’s happening in their world at school and with friends, while also taking advantage of the hydrotherapy spa benefits and stress relief.
Hydrotherapy and Stress Relief For Teens
Stress can be difficult to process at the best of times, especially harder when your body and mind are feeling tense. That’s where hot water immersion can really benefit your body and physiology.
As little as 15 minutes of soaking per day, has healing benefits to our central nervous system. A spa pool becomes a great space to relax and clear our minds. It is also the perfect setting for a chat (or a deep and meaningful) with your teenager/s.
Soaking together, away from modern distractions can be the perfect environment to help the conversation to flow.
The hydrotherapy jets are similar to that of personal masseuse helping to relieve physical symptoms of stress and reduce aches and pains that have accumulated during the day.
To put it simply, it is difficult to be angry in a spa pool!
Most of our Hot Spring customers agree the perfect time for a soak is in the evening. Stress and anxiety can interfere with your teen’s sleep, making it hard for them to get quality rest and to switch off.
Without addressing stress late in the day, it can create a never-ending loop. Lack of sleep makes it harder to deal with stress, yet stress makes it hard to sleep due to over-stimulation.
Your teen may find themselves going round and round.
A hot soak in your spa pool may help break this cycle by raising the body’s temperature. Once out of the spa, our body temperature begins to fall, triggering feelings of sleepiness.
Encouraging a good night’s sleep will provide some helpful stress relief and help your teen wake up feeling more refreshed and energised to start their day.
Recognising Stress In Teens
Most of our teenagers have incredibly busy lives. In fact, they probably have a lot more going on than we ever did at their age!
Not only will they have school, homework, extracurricular activities, and the social anxieties teenagers have always had to deal with, but they also live with round-the-clock access to social networks and other endless digital distractions.
Your teen might be reluctant to take a break from it all, making them more vulnerable to stress triggers.
So, how can you distinguish teenage stress from regular adolescent crankiness?
Often, they will be reluctant to open up about how they are feeling, so you need to seek out the clues instead.
They might be eating too much or too little, speaking negatively about themselves, having trouble sleeping, or acting out at school. We all want to help our teens deal with this stress, but it can be challenging getting them to open up to us.
They may resist all attempts at engaging in conversation. A knock on the bedroom door can seem like an intrusion and questions you ask at the dinner table might feel like an interrogation.
So, once you recognise the signs of stress, it’s time to approach your teen in a trusting, thoughtful way.
Respectful Conversations
Connecting with your teen can be tricky. Communication can be even harder! But, with a bit of patience, meaningful conversations are possible. The most successful conversations are those in which you and your teen feel heard and fairly treated. Keep the following tips in mind when talking to your teen:
- Keep your points concise. No one wants to take part in a conversation that’s one-sided and rambling. Teenagers, especially, will tune out. So, consider what you’d like to say before you say it, and then communicate your message concisely.
- Avoid nagging or repeatedly complaining about one thing. Like you, your teen has a lot going on. Make a request once and then give your child time to process it before repeating yourself.
- Avoid guilt or shaming your child. Parenting is hard and your teen knows how to push your buttons. But don’t let your own frustration get the best of you. Your teen will not talk to you if he or she feels harshly judged every time you engage them. It may help you to remember that teenagers are still learning and might not fully grasp how hurtful their behaviour can be. Be patient and speak using language that’s understanding and non-accusatory.
- Listen to your teen. In your efforts to help your child handle stress, you might talk more than you truly listen. As a result, you might miss what your teen is actually trying to tell you. Through a teenager’s eyes, the world gets bigger, more exciting, and more challenging every day. They may not even realise that they are stressed. So, consistent conversations in a relaxing environment (like your spa pool) can help them in the bad times, as well as the good. It shows them that your support is unconditional.
Encouraging Them To Take A Break
Let’s be honest here… who is going to say no to a spa pool?
It is something that is going to appeal to the whole family, regardless of their age or how stressed they are!
You can take advantage of the fact that spa pools are seen as a fun space. Play on that positivity and encourage your teen to enjoy the relaxation and relationship benefits of the spa. It is the first step in effective stress management.
The key thing is, making sure you have a quality spa pool that is inviting and convenient to use on a daily basis.
Hot Spring® Spas has a wide range of spa pools to suit the needs of any family. It’s no wonder we have Hot Spring customers who upgrade their 20-year-old Hot Spring for another newer model, only to pass on their older model onto their adult children to enjoy.
A Hot Spring® spa becomes a necessity and investment the whole family can benefit from through out their teen years and beyond.
Browse our Hot Spring spa pool collections now and get ready to draw your teen away from the television and social media into the water with you for some quality time together.
Looking for a high-quality family spa with low running costs? The friendly team at Hot Spring® Spas are ready to help!
The Hot Spring® Hot Spot® spa pools are at incredible never-to-be-repeated prices. Buy now and save! Delivery post lockdown. Limited stocks left. Browse our 6 person spa pool and shop now!
