Turtle Time
28 Feb 2011 1 Comment
in All Relaxation Activities, Emotional Regulation, Uncategorized
I often encourage children to do ”turtle time” when they are feeling overwhelmed or experiencing a state of unease or anger. When our emotions run high, having a code word or signal to initiate a calming activity is important. “Turtle Time” can serve as that signal. I explain to students that turtle time helps us to pull our scattered energy back to ourselves so that we can feel focused and calm. It also helps us to slow down so that we can get calm, collect our thoughts and decide what to do. Here are the steps:
1. Get into your shell. Close your eyes and imagine collecting all of your scattered energy around you and pulling it into your shell. You can give yourself a hug or roll up into an actual ball if that feels better. (For students who are often upset, or who need to establish a greater sense of safety, you can create a tangible shell space by putting a blanket over a table and asking them to go into their “shell” under the table).
2. Once you get into your shell, take three, slow deep breaths.
3. Think about possible calm ways you can return to the situation or back to the activity you were completing. Or you can name the situation that was bothering you and decide on some ideas for addressing it.
Additional Practice:
Introduce the Yoga Turtle Pose (Kurmasana) http://www.ehow.com/how_4510314_do-yoga-turtle-pose.html As you are doing the pose, ask children to think about all of the patience they have inside, all the wonderful good feeling energy inside them. Tell them that it is okay to be unhurried for a moment and to relax right here in this place. Remind them that all of their energy is now back inside and they are able to focus and concentrate easily.
Play Musical Turtle
Play some soothing, relaxing music. Tell children that the idea is to move like a turtle, very slow and deliberately, paying close attention to each mindful step. When the music stops, we will practice turtle time. Everyone will get into their shells, take three deep breaths and repeat the following thought: I am calm and relaxed. I am ready to pay attention and learn.
Develop Attention by Increasing Mindfulness: Tips for the Classroom
25 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Educator Resources, Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is usually thought of as bringing your attention fully into the present moment. I love the classical description provided by Susan Kaiser Greenland in her book, The Mindful Child: Mindfulness is a mirror of what’s happening in the present moment.
Working in the schools, I encounter many children who are experiencing a high level of overstimulation. Their experience is a fast-paced world where there is constant input from the outer environment. Their minds are being asked to focus in the classroom, but they are so inundated and oversaturated with information and stimuli, that an ever-increasing struggle with attention and lack of ability to focus ensues. I believe that our attention deficit epidemic is the result of many factors, but it is largely affected by instant gratification and the hugely stimulating environments that our children are exposed to on a daily, often moment to moment basis. Some frequent stimulators include: video games, incessant TV chatter, noisy unorganized households, packed busy schedules, crowd exposure and continuous shopping. Their little minds and bodies are searching for ways to focus, but they haven’t had the opporunity to learn how. With the mind on overload and experiencing a high level of disorganization, I can imagine it can feel to some children like they are sitting in Times Square while adults are asking thembeing asked to recite the alphabet and identify numbers. When children feel unsuccessful in the school environment, they can begin to act out and often inadequate academic growth follows. Many of us in the schools are beginning to understand the extent to which these little minds crave getting calm, focused and present so that they can experience success in school. We can begin by giving those little minds a break from all the noise and activity and then specifically show them how to approach tasks in a structured, clearly defined organized way.
How do we give those little minds a break? We do it by modeling and teaching. Every day we give them the change to sit and breathe for a few moments to begin to let their bodies aclimate to the creative world of silence. We set expectations around peaceful interactions. We monitor our own energy and what we are bringing to the environment. Once kids experience peace and how good it feels to simply focus for a few short minutes, they will be “game” to practice more. The idea is to experience success. Here are some tips for bringing basic mindfulness practice and increasing attention in the classroom:
1. Start with a routine in circle time each morning. The predictibility and repetition of a routing trains the brain for greater focus and oranization. Possible routines involve greeting each other around the circle with a handshake and/or salutation (traditional greetings from cultures around the world can spice up the process). Sing a song and practice a few breathing or relaxation games together and discuss your goals for the day. I have found children as old as fifth grade are willing to engage in circle time and begin to look forward to the opportunity to start and end the day peacefully, connecting with others in the class in a deeper way.
2. Before each test or before initiating independent seat work, use a signal that brings everyone’s attention into the present moment, (ring a bell or chime and breathe until the sound ends).
3. Clearly define and explicitly teach the step by step instructions for everything. Often we assume that children know the steps to getting ready for recess, but often they haven’t had step by step instruction at home and don’t know where to begin. Teaching the steps helps them to organize the information, understand sequential processing and learn how to initiate and experience greater task completion.
4. Set your own energy level to reflect your intention for the class. Consistently using a calm voice regardless of outward response eventually re-calibrates the classroom for calmness. The volume can fluctuate, but the calmness behind it remains stable.
While many of the activities on this site can be used to promote a sense of mindfulness, here is another one to try that is particularly well suited for the classroom.
Activity: The Photographic Memory Game
Play the photographic memory game. Explain to your students that our best attention happens when we are present in the moment, focused on what is happening. Instruct them that they are going to practice attention to detail by taking in all of the details of someone (i.e. what they are wearing, etc. . .). Then have that person leave the room and return with one thing changed on their appearance. Have everyone guess what is different. Instruct them that they have to pay very close attention in order to know what has changed.
Additional Resources:
The Mindful Child by Susan Kaiser Greenland
Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children by Linda Lantieri and Daniel Goleman
Drawing Infinity to Relax the Mind
23 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Relaxing with Art, Uncategorized
Soothe and calm the brain waves by drawing and re-tracing the infinity symbol. Draw the infinity symbol lying on it’s side. Begin by placing a dot in the center of the paper. Start at the dot and draw a loop up to the left, circle around to the center and then loop around the right, ending at the center dot. Repeat this action, always looping up to the left, back to center and then around to the right, ending at the center. Draw using slow, deliberate strokes. Use both hands to encourage stimulation of both brain hemispheres. Experiment with brightly colored crayons.
Ideas for Use:
- Draw it on paper or in the air, make sure the eyes are following the movement
- Check in with your energy before introducing the activity and afterwards
Additional Resources:
Power Brain Kids by Ilchi Lee
Coloring Within The Lines To Relax
20 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in All Relaxation Activities, Relaxing with Art, Uncategorized
A mandala is a sacred circle. Mandalas can be found throughout nature, right down to the cellular level. We are literally swimming in a universal tapestry of interwoven sacred circles.
I believe there is a function or an unmet need behind every behavior. When we look deeply enough we are able to understand the cause/source of the behavior. When the unmet need is met, we often see a reduction in the behavior’s intensity and/or duration. Children demonstrate a variety of behaviors when they are experiencing stress and tension. Re-establishing a sense of calm, peace and wellbeing is often connected to re-establishing feelings of organization, safety and predictability. When we establish a container or space for the disorganized thoughts and feelings, in a safe, consistent environment, we can enhance feelings wellbeing and harmony .
When children are feeling stress or tension, it is often related to disorganization within their own minds or within the environment around them. When the disorganization is contained or brought into balance, there is often a greater experience of peace and wellbeing. Coloring mandalas or creating art within a contained, safe, predicable space, is a way to restore a greater sense of balance, harmony and increased wellbeing.
Activity: Coloring a Mandala
Explain to children that today we are going to color mandalas and a mandala is a sacred circle. Cultures around the world have used them for many different reasons. Native Americans have created sacred healing circles and dreamcatcher circles that catch dreams. Psychologists in the past have used them to explore emotions or unknown thoughts that are getting in the way of progress. In the religion of Buddhism, monks create sand mandalas that take many months to complete and then sweep them away in order learn about and celebrate change.
The circle represents connection. It represents a container. Our classroom (our home) is our container. We get to decide what we put in it. One way that we can increase feelings of calm, focus, concentration and peace in our space is to color mandalas. As we are feeling more peaceful while we are coloring, we are adding peace to our designs and our space. We can practice thinking peaceful thoughts while we are coloring or we can simply allow our minds to relax as we are focused on our creating. As you are coloring allow the colors to “choose you”. Just relax your mind. You don’t have to think very much about the “right” color or the color that your friend is using. Just allow yourself to color exactly as you want to in this moment. (This works best if each child has his or her own set of coloring utensils).
Ideas for use:
- Use before tests in order to establish peace and calm in the environment and focus the mind.
- Use as a possible de-escalation technique when a child is in a heightened state of emotion in order to provide an opportunity to express through art and possibly enhance receptivity for further discussion or processing of the emotions.
- Create a “peace wall quilt” in your school or house by posting the mandalas to “hold the space” of peace in the school or home
- Establish a mandala center or table. Make coloring utensils and mandala templates available. Children can visit the center to calm down, restore balance and/or focus
- Create classroom peace visions by creating a larger collaborative class mandala on butcher paper. Have each classroom in the school create a “class mandala” for display.
- Send mandalas as messages of peace to neighbors, other classes within the school or other cultures.
- Set up a mandala exchange much in the “penpal format” with another culture and send mandalas back and forth instead of or in addition to letters.
Online Resources:
http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_10.html
Thought Workout: Lifting Positive Thoughts to Feel Good
08 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in All Relaxation Activities, Positive Self-Talk, Uncategorized
We can teach children to lift relaxing positive thoughts like we lift weights. Relaxing positive thoughts carry much more weight and influence than negative thoughts. Therefore, just like we work out physically, a little work out daily, goes a long way. We know that repetition is a key ingredient in re-programming the mind for success. Setting the intention to spend a little time each day in the Relaxation Gym will strengthen our minds and align them with what we desire to create and feel in our lives. Attend the positive thought workout session with your child and strengthen your minds to feel good!
Activity: Relaxing Thought Workout
Pause, take a deep breath and bring your attention into the moment. Put your hand on your heart and point two fingers of your other hand to tap your head as you do repetitions of the following thoughts:
Three Reps: “I love and accept myself right here right now.” “I have a relaxed mind and body.”
Four Reps: “I can do whatever I set my mind to.” “I have a relaxed mind and body.”
Five Reps: “I stay focused today.” ”I have a relaxed mind and body.”
You are the personal trainer for your mind. You design the perfect workout for you. When you decide that you want to focus on feeling good and taking care of beautiful you, then these workouts will become effortless, natural and automatic, until that time, you might need to visit the Relaxation Gym several times daily to build strength and to train your brain to feel good. Create repetitions of any thoughts that are related to what you are working to create and/or feel at this point in time.
Variations on the Theme: For children who are scared, you can create repetitions such as “I ride the wave of fear all the way through until it is complete. ” or ”I take a deep breath when I feel scared.”
The Massage Snake
05 Feb 2011 2 Comments
in Relaxing/Balancing the Body, Uncategorized
When our bodies are feeling tense and we need to take a break, it is fun to build a massage snake. Instruct everyone to sit in a “curvy snake line” and place your hands gently on the shoulders of the person in front of you. Then guide the “snake” participants in the following massage activities:
1. Knead the shoulder dough. Gently show children what it is like to knead bread and then alternate squeezing and releasing the shoulder muscles.
2. Itsy Bitsy Spider. Walk your fingers up and down the person’s back gently along the spine, walking deliberatly on the spine path which is the “water spout”. Sing the song softly while you do it.
3. Wiggle Tickle Fingers. Wiggle and tickle your fingers all over the person’s back–moving up and down and all around.
4. Raking the Garden. Make your fingers into rakes and move them in a downward motion down the back from top to bottom. A little more pressure can be applied.
Teach the children to always ask your partner if their touch feels okay or not. They might like you to touch them a little lighter or a little stronger. Start with a demonstration in front to show each of the moves and support children with moderating their touch to match their partner’s preference. If needed, introduce a “stop sign hand” that signals the person to stop if the touch doesn’t feel good or needs to be adjusted.
Relaxation Station
02 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
Designate a space in your home to be the “Relaxation Station.” This can be a consistent, calming spot where kids and adults alike can go to re-connect with inner peace and establish a calm mind and body. Identify a cozy, out-of-the-way place. Place some comforting pillows, hang a pretty curtain, and include calm, soft lighting. Other possible items to include in the space include:
Calming music, nature sounds, small fountain, rosewater or lavendar water misting bottle, nature pictures, journals and writing utensils for collecting thoughts or drawing experiences, sweet smelling bean bags to put over the eyes, stress balls to squeeze, blankets, and a favorite stuffed animal or two
It is important to establish a consistent space so that the body and mind get accustomed to relaxing in that space. When consistently used over time, the relaxation response will automatically initiate upon entering the space. Spend some time practicing relaxation activities in the space to further strengthen the relaxation response associated with it.
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