Believe it or not, belly breathing is a very abstract concept for kids. Most adults have a hard time breathing this way too. Take a moment to notice your breath. Is it coming from your chest? Most of us breathe shallow from our chest, using only the top quarter of our lungs. Heck, that’s how I breathe when I am not paying attention, and I know better!  Belliebuddies was created as a tool to help us see our breath. Each one is ergonomically designed so it doesn’t fall off when breathing. There is a little weigh in its tummy which provides biofeedback and stability, it's big enough to see when lying down and pretty cute, which helps keep kids engaged (adults like them too, just ask my grandma)!  

​

The idea for BellieBuddies came from a thought I had while teaching a group of  five year olds how to belly breathe.

I had been looking for something to help these children see their breath. My internet searches weren't satisfying so I came up with an idea, heading off to class I grabbed a handful of stuffed animals from my son’s room, at class I had each child place one on their tummy. I told them a story of how the animals wanted to play in the ocean and that their bellies resembled the waves of the ocean. After a few breaths everyone was belly-breathing, the stuffed animals weren’t perfect but they did the job. The following class, my students shared with me how they had been breathing with stuffed animals from home all week. I saw how well this concept worked and wanted to offer this tool to everyone, so BellieBuddies was born…