On Friday, we enjoyed a mindfulness workshop – ask your child if they can explain what mindfulness is.
We started off by thinking about a situation (being kicked in the leg in the playground) and thought about how we might react. Our response could be negative: we could react in a retaliatory way. However, being mindful would allow us to respond more positively: taking a moment away from the situation to calm down and find a suitable solution.
Then, we watched a clip from ‘Kung-Fu Panda’. In the clip, we saw two characters. One had a special power: mindfulness. Being mindful allowed the character to respond to a tricky situation by staying calm, thinking through his options and finding a solution that was best for all involved.
As our themed week is all about who we are, we discussed that learning to accept our emotions is a huge part of our identity. We talked about how we were feeling and reflected on times when we haven’t felt so upbeat and positive. We agreed that feeling anxious, sad or stressed is OK because we know that no matter how we are feeling it will always get better. To help, we learnt a few relaxation techniques:
- self hug
- breathing tree
- OK breathing
- nasal breathing (risky in the winter if you have a cold!)
Another technique we learnt to help us be mindful when we’re feeling anxious or worried is an emotions bottle. To create an emotions bottle at home, simply add different coloured glitter to a bottle of still water. Once made, decide what emotion each colour represents, shake the bottle, watch all the emotions mix then breath calmly as the bottle (and your emotions) reset. We have our own emotions bottle (or ‘Worry Waver’ as we’ve decided to call ours) in class that children can use at any time they wish – maybe, you could have one at home, too?
Another simple method to help us relax was to sit still and silent and focus on our senses. You could listen out for 10 sounds, find 10 shapes you haven’t noticed before or use your sense of touch to find contrasting textures around the room.
We’ll keep talking about mindfulness in class and we’ll be trying out some of the techniques.
