In the video above we are reminded that our brains want to react rather than respond. We have to actively teach our brains to slow down (do not react), take a mindful pause, and then respond thoughtfully.
In the video we learn that we can pause and notice what is going on and what we feel. We can take time to name it. Then we create the gap. We create space to think and feel and work out what we want to happen next. Then we choose our move. How do we respond? What do we do next?
Have you ever noticed a student explode their emotions all over you and the class? In turn you may want to react just as large, perhaps you did. Our students do not yet have the skills needed to pause and think. We need to teach them the process. We first need to teach them the process by engaging in the process ourselves.
All emotions are valid.
All emotions are acceptable.
Sometimes our emotions take control and our behavior become out of control. Out of control behavior is not acceptable.
We need a mindful pause.
One mindful pause is to Stop, Breathe, Think, and then Choose.
We can also use the acronym STOP.
S: Stop
T: Take a deep breath: This is long slow and sometimes multiple breaths
O: Observe ( what is going on around you and inside of you)
P: Proceed: What helpful choice will make the feeling or situation better?
If we begin to practice STOP or follow the suggestions from our video we will give our brains and bodies time to sync up and make wise choices.
If we begin to practice theses techniques we will become good at them and we will be calm and ready to help our students learn and use the skills.
We need a calm brain before we can have a brain that reasons well.
I encourage us all to work to STOP and teach our students to do the same.
Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22. Above is an 8 minute meditation related to Earth Day. This is a great mindfulness to help our students be in a mindset to focus on the earth and helping to care for it.
After listening to this mindfulness you can take some time to walk outside and engage in more earth friendly mindfulness.
Take a walk with your students to help clean up around the school. The mindfulness above talks about cleaning up trash. Your students should already be in the mindset to clean up.
You can also take a walk and focus on Sound Mindfulness. This time of year we can hear more birds chirp, the wind blow, and of course the sounds of people and cars.
You can also engage in a Sight Mindfulness. Take time to notice any buds popping out on trees, flowers springing forth, animals flying and running about, and of course people and cars.
If you would like to stay inside and provide movement for your students, below is a cute Earth Day Yoga, about 5 minutes long.
Inner Explorer also has some mindfulness that connects well with Earth day. You can find Gratitude for Trees and Gratitude for Earth on Inner Explorer.
When we begin talking about mindfulness with students we share that mindfulness is, paying attention, on purpose, without judgment. As we talk with students about Earth Day we can remind them to pay attention to nature, on purpose. We can take time to embrace how we spend time in nature and allow others to do the same, without judgment.
As we continue testing, engaging in some time outside can help our students. Outdoor mindfulness has been shown to help reduce anxiety and stress. Spending time outside can help enhance focus and improve memory. Being outside can also improve mood and self-esteem while reducing some symptoms of ADHD.
Time outside can also boost energy and reduce fatigue. Taking students outside before or after testing can help them with mental and physical health.
A mindful time outside can help us all during testing. Take a walk during lunch or prep. Go outside and take deep beaths in as you look around and experience nature.
This week, Earth Day, is a great time to remind us to spend more time outside, in a mindful way. Even after Earth Day this time of year is a great time to be outside. With all of the benefits of being outside, take some time outside with your students. Or take some you time outside. Engage with nature mindfully and enjoy the benefits.
The anxiety of testing can get to us all. We do not have to let the anxiety control us or our students. We can support the testing season with mindfulness.
Mindfulness has been shown to reduce anxiety, improve focus, regulate emotions, and promote resilience.
Mindfulness trains the brain to recover quicker, it interrupts the cycle of worry, and helps anchor to the here and now and brings attention to each question.
Try utilizing Inner Explorer before heading into the gym for testing.
Take some time to review and share mindfulness tips the students can engage in during testing.
Below are some great mindfulness practices to help support the brain and body during testing.
1. Quick Calm
Try some counting breathing techniques. The key to this mindful activity is making sure the out breath is longer than the in. Having a longer out breath engages the Vagus Nerve and connects to the parasympathetic nervous system. This is our rest and digest system. It is the opposite of the fight or flight system.
Try
2-1-4 (2 in, 1 hold, 4 out)
4-4-6 (4 in, 4 hold, 6 out)
4-7-8 (4 in, 7 hold, 8 out)
These breathing techniques will help lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate, reduce anxiety, and promote calm.
2. Balanced Breathing
Our kinder classes learned this breathing technique last week, so I know we all can give it a go. This involves closing off one nostril to breathe in. Then hold the breath and switch nostrils to breathe out. Now with that same nostril breathe in again. Switch and breathe out. Last leave both nostrils open and take in a deep breath and then breathe out.
3. Stretching and Yoga
Movement before the test can help get out wiggles and relax the body.
4. Superhero Pose.
This is an oldie but a goodie. The beginning of this blog post from 2019 talks about the superhero pose. Give it a quick look. Try it. See how you feel after standing like a superhero.
5. Set Intentions.
We need to have a positive, growth mindset. Set an intention or goal for the day. Set an intention for the test. "I will work hard. I will do my best. I will complete all questions." Here is a blog post from 2023 addressing having a growth mindset.
6. List Gratitude
Train your brain to be positive. Our brains have a negative bias. We have to train our brains to be positive. Use listing gratitude to help start the day with a positive mindset.
We have several blog posts on gratitude. If you go to MondayMindfulMoments.blogspot.com and type in gratitude by the little magnifying glass you can find several options to explore.
7. Grounding (in the here and now)
Grounding utilizes the 5 senses to anchor to the present.
5 Things you see
4 Things you hear
3 Things you touch
2 Things you smell
1 Things you taste (you could provide a mint to help wake up the brain)
8. Be Your Own Hype Man
Encourage your students to encourage themselves.
Take a moment to read my board with Testing Affirmations.
Two dysregulated people cannot have a regulated moment.
Video from Dr. Russell J Ledet (helpful hint, when the video comes up hit the X at the top, you do not have to log into anything)
Emotional dysregulation is defined as the inability to manage the intensity and duration of an emotion. This often results in outbursts, mood swings, or shutting down. Emotional dysregulation is common for those diagnosed with ADHD, mood disorders, brain conditions, and those with a history of trauma.
Emotional regulation is defined as the ability to understand and manage emotions in a healthy way.
Emotional regulation and emotional dysregulation are learned from watching others or being taught by others.
If you watched the video link above you will have met Dr. Russel J. Ledet. I have explored many of his videos and have loved all of them. He is a great resource. He often talks to parents in his video, but his words apply to all of us working daily with children.
Below I will share some highlights I gathered from the video.
The urge you feel to yell is not just your feeling of frustration but also a signal your brain is being activated.
As the child's brain is activated and turning on the Amygdala and turning off the Prefrontal Cortex, your brain is being activated in the same way.
If you recognize those parts of the brain; the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex, then you have been paying attention to my mindfulness lessons. When we introduce mindfulness to students we talk about those parts of the brain and how they connect to mindfulness.
Dr. RJ tells us to put on our own masks first (like in an airplane). Let's do it!
First, start by noticing biofeedback. Where in the body do you experience the emotion? Is your chest tight? Is your voice going up? Do you have racing thoughts?
Take a moment; pause, take a breath, and lower your tone on purpose.
Next, give yourself the gift of time.
I loved his statement he suggests using, saying that it is alright to tell a child that you are going to circle back in a minute.
Last, do not forget to ground yourself first. (Feel free to take a refresher course on calm with the blog from March 18th)
Overpowering a child is not going to calm them down. And it will not calm you down.
Calm down first, then calm the child. You have to be the calm in their storm. We've said it before and we will say it again, do not join their chaos, invite them to your calm.
As we slowly approach Spring Break I wanted to share some fun facts about our school's mindfulness.
We have 39 active users of Inner Explorer.
On Thursday March 19th we had 51 staff utilize mindfulness to support their students.
So far this year we have engaged in 3,159 mindfulness practices for a total of 14,025 mindful minutes.
Our Top Staff are:
1. Cords 395
2. Sentz 323
3. Nelson 241
4. McKenzie 218
5. Steiner 210
6. Rafaelian 178
7. Ali 177
8. Maier 160
9. Gulledge 150
10. Wenk 128
Did you know that you have a Dashboard on Inner Explorer? The dashboard has a section called Tune In. You can utilize this to send a email to parents to connect them with the mindfulness practice your class engaged in that day. You can send mindfulness home!
You also have a section on your dashboard called Tool Kit. This has journaling pages, case studies, statistics, and more. In this section you can learn that mindfulness benefits educators, reducing stress by 43% because mindfulness can help reduce behavior concerns by 60%.
This year Inner Explorer has given us the opportunity to try STEM +M. This has science lessons that meet standards and include mindfulness. This is for grades 2-4.
If you utilize the grade level 5-7 you can choose short or long mindfulness practices.
You do not have to stay in your grade level, you can explore younger or older.
If you need a quick mindfulness try a sound or transition practice.
If you need a moment try the educator well-being series.
It is never too late to start a mindfulness practice.
How are we finding our calm in unexpected chaos? Are we?
Did you know that Inner Explorer has a Safety Series? It is a great tool to utilize after a difficult time such as, the power problems we encountered Monday. We can help ourselves and our students find calm after chaos.
We can also find ways to invite in calm during the moments of chaos and anxiety.
According to Psychology Today and the Rinehart Institute out of Kalamazoo, MI, we have several ways to help prepare our minds to handle stress, anxiety, and chaos.
1. Focus on the here and now.
Turn off the "what if" and start seeing and trying to understand "what is". Our brains try to predict what will happen but cannot accurately accomplish this task. We can train our brains to sit in and understand the here and now and focus on what is.
This is mindfulness.
Being in the moment, not focused on what may or may not happen next. Be in the moment without judgement. The Beatles told world in 1970 that in times of trouble, Let It Be.
Let the moment be, mindfully.
2. Slow Down
Moving too fast with our bodies and brains can cause burn out or the feeling of failure. Slow down. Allow your brain to respond instead of react.
When we move too fast we react to a situation. When we slow down we allow our brains to calm and find a response.
Slowing down allows the time for mindful mediation and reflection.
3. Focus on what you can control.
There is always something we can control in a situation. Even if the only thing in our control is our response to the event or situation.
Shift your focus.
Stop focusing on the things out of your control. If you can't control it, why give it brain space?
4. Ask for help.
Humans are social beings. Our brains have mirror neurons that seek to reflect others. Psychiatrist and author Amir Levine, in his new book, Secure, shares that the human brain was designed for secure attachment and acceptance. These things are only possible when we invite others into our lives. Our brain wants others and needs others. Seek them out. Don't go it alone.
5. Notice Gimmers.
Incase you were not here at Fortis back in 2023 here is our Glimmer Blog.
A glimmer is said to be the opposite of a trigger. It is something that makes our brains happy and hopeful.
Find glimmers and experience gratitude.
Focus on the small moments that inspire and create hope. Save space for these moments and savor every part of them.
6. Deep Breathing.
This doesn't have to be a formal mindfulness, but rather, just deep breathing. Deep breathing calms the brain.
7. Grounding
This is another way to utilize mindfulness to anchor us in the here and now.
Groundings is a 5-4-3-2-1 experience. Notice 5 Things You See, 4 Things You can Touch, 3 Things You can Hear, 2 Things you can Smell, and 1 Thing you can Taste.
8. Exercise.
This is intentional movement. Movement brain breaks are helpful in class from time to time, but this is a focus on moving the body to work it out. This is yoga. This is running. This is weight lifting. A planned, intentional movement the brain as well as the body focuses on.
9. Limit Stimulation
This is the hardest one for our students and for us adults.
Limit sugar.
Limit caffeine.
Limit screens.
Brains need a true break. We live in an over stimulated world. We have to have intention regarding giving brains breaks.
10. Progressive muscle relaxation
Inner Explorer has several of these options. This is the process of going top to bottom or bottom to top relax our bodies part by part. Start with toes, legs, lower back, shoulders, neck, face, head.... Relax your body and release tension a little at a time. Take your time. Relax.
11. Create a relaxation ritual
Make this a self care that doesn't feel forced.
Often we are told to engage in self care and it feels forced and uncomfortable. Our minds are still focused on everything else.
Make this a want to, not a have to. Build it into your daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.
Every morning relax, take deep breaths, do a mindfulness, and focus on gratitude. Savory the moment.
Every night relax, take deep breaths, do a mindfulness, and focus on the positive ways you contributed to the day. Savory the moment.
Make this a want to do. Not a have to do.
12. CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
The rewiring of our thought patterns.
Identifying negative thoughts, challenging the thoughts, and replacing the thoughts. Find balance.
Also if you want to watch a really good show that has CBT often discussed, check out Shrinking on Apple TV. It's a favorite of mine. Also, Harrison Ford, need I say more.
You do not have to do all 12 of the items on this list. Start with picking one or two to focus your effort and energy toward.
I've said it before and it's worth the reminder.... Invite Students to Your Calm. Do Not Join Their Chaos. ....also don't be the chaos they join.
As we move into another week of our mindfulness challenge I wanted to take some time to share some whys related to our mindfulness practice at Fortis.
Why do we practice?
Why does it matter?
Why should I care?
First I want to start with a quick video I found recently. If you have time I encourage you to explore more of Lani Lawson's videos on Facebook or Instagram. She shares a lot of great information regarding behavior and the classroom.
When our students are amped up they do not need more amps, we don't want an increase in energy, but rather we need something to calm the mind and body.
In today's world our young students are inundated with things that amp them up. Our students are, according to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation. In his book Haidt talks about Gen Z, which is the generation before our students, however, our students could be following a very similar path. The path track is due to a screen based childhood.
Haidt tells us that having a screen based childhood, hand held video games, and social media before puberty, has greatly affected our youth in negative ways.
Our students are more sleep deprived, screen addicted, and anxious. Haidt presents many studies in his book which show children are miswiring their brains and missing out on important life skills.
I share all of this to help us understand why mindfulness is extremely important for our students.
We have all heard the expression, "Neurons that fire together, wire together." Our brains have what is called neuroplasticity. This is the brains ability to reshape and rewire based on repeated thoughts and behaviors.
Unfortunately many to most students today have brains wiring toward screens, video games, and social media. There is hope. We can help rewire their brains.
Studies on addiction find that it takes about 21 days to make or break a habit. Inner Explorer sets a 21 day journey to reflect theses findings. The research shows that if we can get someone to do something for 21 days they are more likely to continue that habit on their own.
Can you imagine the 21 (and far more) days our students have put into their screens? We can help our students with a daily mindfulness practice.
Studies show that a daily mindfulness practice can help to change the structure of the brain. Mindfulness helps calm the brain and wires it to know how to handle difficult situations. Mindfulness can also keep our minds healthy. It can help improve memory and decrease anxiety and depression.
Taking 5-10 minutes a day to practice mindfulness could help decrease negative behaviors, set up a calm classroom, and provide relaxation to anxious minds.
We practice mindfulness to help calm the brain and body.
We practice mindfulness to increase self-awareness and social awareness.
We practice mindfulness to support mental health and greater well-being.
We practice mindfulness to support behavior.
If you haven't started your journey, start today. Don't be like Unicorse from Bluey (see picture below) you should care. It matters!
