Name It - Tame It

Before we are able to open a student’s heart and mind to feeling their present state of being, we may need to help them identify how they may feel. Giving a feeling a name can be powerful. In many counseling practices they will tell you that you need to “name it to tame it.” 

How can we ask a student to tell us how their bodies feel if we have never given them the language to describe the sensations and feelings? Take a moment to explore some ways a body may feel. Make a list together. Below is a list I have come up with by talking to several classes across the building.

·       Cold

·       Frozen

·       Heat

·       Hot

·       Heavy

·       Light

·       Ache

·       Relaxed

·       Tension

·       Tingles

·       Discomfort

·       Anxiousness

·       Tightness

·       Agitation

·       Happy

·       Peace

·       Hurt

·       Anger

·       Love

·       Sadness

·       Pain

·       Numbness

·       Fear

·       Romance

·       Weird stomach- butterflies

·       Focus

·       Kindness

·       Normal *this one may need to be explored further if a student states that they feel “normal” when talking about chaos in the class.

·       Fast-racing heart

·       Stomach drop

·       Jaw dropping

·       Throat stabbed

·       A fight- a pull

·       Surprise

·       Heartbeat quickens

·       Exhaustion

·       Empty

·       Full

·       Nervous

·       Shaky

·       Energy

·       Electricity

Feel free to share more in the comments section. Let’s keep adding to the list to create a resource and a common language for our students. Giving them words to name how their bodies feels can give them the power to tame the feels or embrace the feelings.

Now that we have made a list of various ways our bodies can feel, lets pause our bodies, statue breathing, and feel. If you have yet to experience “statue breathing” it's a was to teach a still body while deep breathing.

The next step in our mindful lives here at school is to use the language ourselves. Let your students hear the words. “How does it feel when chaos erupts in our class? For me my body begins to feel tension and when the chaos ends, exhaustion.” We are often under the assumption that we need to be tough and strong for our students. This can lead a student to believe that all adults always have it all together and they would then never understand the struggle of a student. Show them you understand, connect with them, and show them you can and do feel feelings too. Be present in your feelings. Teach your students to name their feelings, understand their feelings, and either embrace them or release them.

After we have named our feelings, we then need to learn to live in them. Live the moment they exist. Mindfulness is not simply feeling good and being calm. Sometimes we are sad, sometimes we know heartache and pain. Mindfulness teaches us to feel those feelings as they come, accept them, and then release them.

Many people believe that mindfulness is a practice to teach us to transcend our difficult emotions and only experience our pleasant emotions. This is not true. Mindfulness is a practice to teach our minds to befriend our emotions and allow them to come home to our bodies. Once we give awareness to the difficult emotions, we allow our bodies to experience them in an educational way, a way that will teach us how to heal.

Mindfulness can help us relax our bodies and minds and enjoy the positive and affirmative emotions. Our days become so busy, we multi-task, and we let the warm and compassionate feelings escape our conscious recognition.  

My challenge to you is that you not only help your students; name, feel, and accept their emotions and feelings, but that you too take time to do so.