Stressed Or Upset? Snoop Dogg Is Teaching Kids How To Breathe Through It

Add children’s mental health coach to Snoop Dogg’s resumé.

The rapper’s childhood animated series on YouTube, Doggyland, (yep, he has a kids’ show) partnered with First 5 CA for a song teaching kids how to breathe in times of stress and anger.

“When you’re tired and grumpy and you want to shout, pretend you’re a dragon and let it out. Just breathe, breathe,” sings Bow Wizzle, voiced by Snoop Dogg, alongside other animated cartoon characters.

It’s part of a campaign by First 5 CA focused on toxic stress, which research has shown can worsen children’s health throughout their lives, including developmental delays, a heightened risk of heart disease, and shortened lifespans.

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Toxic stress can happen when children are repeatedly exposed to difficult experiences, including racism, violence, and challenges in the home.

Get your lungs ready:

Why breathing?

“Utilizing deep breath practices are very useful for turning down the nervous system,” said Jeffrey Gold, a clinical psychologist and director of the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Gold uses breathing techniques with children going through stressful events like a medical procedure.

He says prolonged stress leads to the release of the extra hormones in the body — epinephrine, cortisol, and norepinephrine — to the brain and vital organs.

“What you'll see is a prolonged stress response can actually have a negative impact on your feelings, on your physiology, on your chemistry. It also can affect your sleep, it can affect your mood, it can affect your appetite,” he said.

Gold said breathing is an easily accessible and portable way for kids to manage stress at school and in their homes.

“I think the more ways we can encourage children to learn how to engage in breath practices,” Gold said. “I think the more confidence they will feel in the ways that they can regulate their own bodies and their own emotions and their own thoughts.”

Who breathed it best?

Snoop Dogg is the latest in a line of icons who have wanted to help children learn how to self-regulate.

We have perhaps the most natural ambassador for taking a deep breath, The Count from "Sesame Street," joined by Cookie Monster:

We also have three others from "Sesame Street," Tamir, Ji-Young, and Grover:

And of course, Daniel Tiger:

Pick your favorite, or pick them all — breathing is good.