We started our 'Mindfulness Training' by practicing our ability to breathe deeply. We call this our 'Five Finger Breath' because after we inhale and exhale, we turn a finger on each of our hands under. If we get to five and we still don't feel 'settled'...we can always take a few more deep breaths.
We sometimes listen to slow, instrumental music to help us slow our breathing and our body movements.
We sometimes project an image on the smartboard of a calming place to help us visualize something peaceful.
If we don't have music or a picture to look at, students are encouraged to find their own 'quiet place' where they can leave their troubles behind and clear their minds.
We still have a lot to learn about being mindful. Building resilience to stress and developing a positive mind set in school and life are important life skills.
We have already found that taking a few minutes to calm our bodies and minds makes us better prepared to attend and focus on the next part of our day. Ask your child to show you the Five Finger Breath!
In our class, we have also talked about the 'Golden Rule' and how we can demonstrate this every day. We have talked about what 'bullying' looks like and we have discussed ways to stop bullying from happening. We even talked about reasons why some kids bully others and ways to help a bully learn how to treat others more appropriately. We had some fantastic conversations on this topic and students shared their ideas on papers which we posted on our door.
Settling our our brains and bodies so we can prepare for learning, staying positive, cooperating with others, putting and end to bullying and treating everyone the way we would like to be treated are all important factors in our mental health. Something to think about!
