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The SEEDS Technique™: A Simple Tool for Emotional Regulation
Updated: Sep 16
Originally published January 2024 | Updated September 2026
We all have weeds. At You Are a Gardener®, we believe that learning how to recognize what we are feeling and knowing what to do with those feelings is an important part of growing through what we go through.
The SEEDS Technique™ is a simple tool for emotional regulation that brings awareness to challenging feelings and offers healthy, approachable ways to grow through them.
Designed for gardeners of all ages and stages, SEEDS can be used at home, in the classroom, in a counselor’s office, at work, or anywhere we may need a little support turning our weeds into seeds. For teens and grown gardeners, it can also be a simple way to pause, check in with what we’re feeling, and choose what we need next.
Scroll down to download our FREE SEEDS Technique™ printable for your home, classroom, counselor’s office, workspace, or anywhere gardeners could use a simple reminder to turn their weeds into seeds.
First, Let’s Dig Into Our Gardener Vocabulary
Our SEEDS Technique™ is rooted in the language and mindset behind You Are a Gardener®:
Flowers are the joys in our lives and the things we are grateful for.
Weeds are our worries, stressors, challenges, and difficult feelings.
Gardening Tools are the healthy actions we can use to grow through our emotions. Deep breathing, grounding, talking to someone we trust, journaling, creating, moving our bodies, listening to music, or practicing gratitude can all become gardening tools.
Seeds are the positive shifts and takeaways that can come from working through our weeds. A seed might leave us feeling calmer, more confident, hopeful, prepared, connected, or ready to move forward.
#PullYourWeeds® is how we identify and express our weeds, take healthy action, build emotional empowerment, and plant seeds of positive change.
Our Gardener Vocabulary gives us a way to recognize what we’re feeling, talk about it, and decide what we need next. The SEEDS Technique™ brings it all together in five simple steps.
How to Use the SEEDS Technique™
When a weed pops up, SEEDS gives us five simple ways to grow through it:
S | STOP Take a breath and notice what you’re feeling.
Before we can decide what we need, we have to recognize what is happening. Maybe we feel worried, frustrated, disappointed, nervous, overwhelmed, or something we cannot quite name yet. We can simply stop and notice.
E | EXPLORE Look around. Notice what you can see, hear, smell, and feel.
Using our senses can bring our attention to what is happening right now. Notice the room around you, sounds nearby, how your feet feel on the floor, or the temperature of the air.
E | EXPRESS Talk to someone you trust or write about how you feel.
Our weeds do not have to stay bottled up. We can put words to them by talking with someone we trust or writing down what is on our mind.
D | DISCOVER Choose a gardening tool that helps you feel calm, confident, or creative.
Different weeds may call for different tools. Take a few deep breaths. Go outside. Draw. Journal. Stretch. Listen to music. Take a walk. Connect with someone. Discover what supports you in that moment.
S | SEE Notice your flowers, the things you’re grateful for that bring you joy.
Even when we are experiencing a weed, our flowers are still there. Taking a moment to notice something good can create a small shift in perspective.
That’s where the seed takes root, in the positive shift that comes from growing through our weeds.
From Weeds to Seeds
The goal of the SEEDS Technique™ is not to make difficult feelings disappear.
Our weeds are part of being human.
Instead, SEEDS gives us a way to notice those feelings, explore what is happening, express what we need, discover healthy tools, and reconnect with the flowers that are growing alongside our weeds.
Sometimes the seed is feeling calmer.
Sometimes it is having the confidence to try again.
Sometimes it is recognizing what we need, asking for support, finding a new perspective, or simply feeling a little more prepared for what comes next.
Small shifts can lead to positive growth.
A Tool for Gardeners of All Ages
One of our favorite things about the SEEDS Technique™ is that its message is ageless.
A young gardener can use SEEDS after a difficult day at school.
A teenager can use it before a test, game, performance, or challenging conversation.
A parent can use it during an overwhelming afternoon.
An educator can introduce it during a classroom reset.
A counselor can use the prompts to open a conversation.
And grown gardeners can use the same five steps when work, relationships, responsibilities, or everyday life start to feel like a lot.
The weeds may change as we grow. The importance of knowing how to respond to them does not.
Keep the SEEDS Technique™ Where You Can See It
Emotional regulation tools are most useful when we can actually remember to use them.
That’s why we created our newly redesigned SEEDS Technique™ printable to keep the five steps visible and accessible.
Hang it on the refrigerator at home, in a classroom or calm space, in a school counselor’s office, in a therapy or wellness space, near a desk or workspace, or anywhere gardeners may need a reminder to STOP, EXPLORE, EXPRESS, DISCOVER and SEE.
Sometimes simply seeing the steps is enough to remind us that we have choices in how we respond.
Plant the Seeds and Keep Growing
We cannot prevent every weed from popping up, but we can continue growing the awareness, language, and healthy tools that allow us to move through them with greater confidence.
STOP. EXPLORE. EXPRESS. DISCOVER. SEE.
Notice the weed.
Reach for a gardening tool.
Look for your flowers.
And see what seed you can plant next.
We are all gardeners, growing through what we go through.
Join the #PullYourWeeds® Movement
You Are a Gardener® is an emotional empowerment platform for gardeners of all ages and stages.
Through our Gardener Vocabulary, healthy Gardening Tools, and the #PullYourWeeds® movement, we encourage greater awareness of what we are feeling and healthy ways to respond to the weeds that pop up along the way.
From children and teens to parents, educators, counselors, and grown gardeners, our resources are designed to plant seeds of confidence, resilience, kindness, connection, and positive growth.
Dig into the #PullYourWeeds® Blog and discover tools, resources, and inspiration for growing through what we go through:
We all have weeds, and as gardeners, we all have the ability to grow through what we go through!
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