How You Help and a little bit of RAIN

 Last week we talked about looking at our students with compassion and understanding. We asked the question, how are you helping?

How have you helped during this first week back in-person? Did you remember to spend time in gratitude? When I meet with students in the morning the two things I always ask are "What is your goal for today?" and "What is your gratitude?" Studies show us that having a goal for the day (small and achievable) helps us set a path and plan for the day. Doing this creates a sense of purpose and drive. One study looked at 5th grader who practiced daily goal setting, using WOOP. This study found that those students outperformed their peers. 

This week I have utilized my compute to and from work to listen to one of my favorite podcasts The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos. Dr. Santos is starting the new year talking about the things that will make us truly happy and not setting new years resolutions.

In her second installment in her four part series, Dr. Santos had on Dr. Tara Brach. If you remember back to a previous post March 11,2020 RAIN, Dr. Brach uses the acronym RAIN to help us with mindfulness and self-compassion.

Dr. Brach made a statement that really connected with me and made me reflect on another way we can help and support our students.

Dr. Brach shared that at the end of RAIN, the N: nurture, asks you to place your hand on your heart and give yourself some compassion. I love this. I love Metta Loving-Kindness mindfulness. But this is not what really stood out to me. Dr. Brach shared that some new research is showing that the act of placing your hand on your heart relaxes the sympathetic nervous system. 

Our sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our body's involuntary response to danger. This is your Flight, Fight, Freeze, or Faint. Studies are showing that the small act of placing your hand on your heart while taking in a deep breath can help your body calm this process and you can process your thoughts and feelings.

Evolutionarily our sympathetic nervous system saved us from being eaten by lions and the like and it was important to have this turned on and tuned in. Today we do not need to run full speed with this system. When the sympathetic nervous system is triggered your brain and body is flooded with hormones which in turn elevates your heart rate.

For some of our students, this pandemic and their home lives, has created a situation in which they are always running on high alert. It is not healthy for our bodies to remain in high alert. We need ways to find calm.

Helping our students starts with helping ourselves. 

I wanted to share some resources that can help you with your mindfulness and aid you with helping your students. 

Headspace has a new series on Netflix. I have watched the first two. I would recommend these for your personal use. They would be too long for our students. 

Headspace is also offering educators a free subscription to their app. Headspace.com/educators

As a school we have Inner Explorer. Please Please Please utilize this resource. It is easy, the lessons are not long, all you have to do is push play, and research shows your stress will reduce and your students will perform better. Right now many people are stressed about our students performance and keeping pace during this school year. Why not use a resource that can help reduce stress and improve student performance in class?

At a recent training a fellow ABSS shared that they utilize Sandford Harmony. This resource is a free SEL (social-emotional learning) program. I have done some exploring and have observed lessons, trainings, and more. This resource is directed at K-6 but also has some connected links for older students. 

Providing our students with mindfulness does not have to be a challenge and when done well can benefit us along side our students. 

In The Happiness Lab podcast a story of an Army Lieutenant who learned mindfulness at an anger management course. This story shows how mindfulness helped this man remain calm when he wanted to be anger, connect with another person, and learn that had he allowed his anger to control him he would have added more pain to another person. Go listen. The podcast is about 35 minutes long and the story is at minute 25...but really enjoy it all and get a refresher on RAIN. Reconnect with the Moment

Your mindful practice can help you remain calm in challenging situations, be more aware of your own feelings, and be able to better support others. 

What if your anger added to the pain of your students without you even knowing? What if instead you were able to calm a fear and provide a safe house for your students feelings? 

I end each day asking students; "what did you do today that mattered?" and "how have you helped today?" Psychologist Adam Grant wrote a book Give and Take, helping us look at ourselves and if we give to others or take from them. He shares that he asks his children daily how they helped. He finds this more important that asking how their grades are, if they had fun, and if lunch was good. 

So I ask you, "How have you helped today?"