24 cards across four suits. Name · Soothe · Move · Tell. Print, cut, keep near your bed.
"I feel sad and tired." "I feel proud and a little scared." Two words instead of one. The shape of the feeling shows up.
Chest, stomach, throat, head, shoulders. Same feeling usually shows up in the same spot. Knowing where helps you catch it earlier next time.
Feelings are real. Feelings aren't always facts. "Nobody likes me" is real as a feeling, often not real as a fact. Both can be true at once.
Get paper. Draw it as a shape, a color, a creature, a weather thing. Some feelings shrink the moment they're outside your head.
One sentence on paper: "Right now I feel ___." That's it. The sentence does work just by existing.
Some feelings are yours. Some you caught from someone else (a friend's mood, a parent's worry). You don't have to keep what you didn't choose.
Breathe in for 4. Hold for 4. Breathe out for 6. Three rounds. Free, always works.
Splash cold water on your face. Real biology — calms the brain in seconds.
Hold something warm — a mug of tea, hands under warm water, a heated thing. Warm hands tell the body "we are safe."
Petting an animal calms humans. Real science. If you have one, sit with them five minutes.
Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. Pulls your brain back into the present.
Most big feelings get smaller after one really good night of sleep. Phone out of the bedroom is the biggest single move.
No screens, no headphones, just a walk. Most feelings shift by minute 7.
20 of them. Fast. Angry energy needs out; jumping jacks let it leave.
A whole song. By yourself if needed. The body remembers it can also be playful.
Where does your body feel tight right now? 60 seconds of stretching just that one place. Often the same place the feeling lives.
Drink a glass of water. Eat something real (not candy or chips). A lot of "I feel weird" disappears after the body is actually fed.
Sun and air. The brain notices the difference even if you don't think it should. Free.
Tell a safe grown-up one real sentence today. Not "fine." Something true. "I felt left out at lunch." "I was scared in math." The sentence is the medicine.
Make a tiny list of grown-ups you could tell hard things to. Even one name is enough. If you can't name one, ask a school counselor to help build the list.
On the Sanity or Fear planet, send a kind message to someone else's hard feeling. Your own feeling gets quieter when you help someone with theirs.
Three good things from today, before sleep. Even tiny ones. Done most nights for a month, your brain trains itself to notice good things automatically.
Sometimes a kid hears you better than an adult does. The right friend or sibling can be a real safe person.
If you feel unsafe, or someone is hurting you, or you're thinking about hurting yourself — call. 988 (free, 24/7). Childhelp 1-800-422-4453. The phone is for the real ones. Use it.