Mindfulness/Yoga In the Classroom and the Real World Linda Peterson, M.A, LPC Sarah Bodi, M.A Hixson Middle School Linda

Learning Outcomes: Participants will learn to use mindfulness and stress reduction techniques to apply to the classroom, individuals, groups, and for personal care. learn informal and formal processes understand how stress is created practicing the applications of mindfulness within stressful situations Linda

Who Am I And What Do I Intend To Learn?

Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program Content Area Strand: Personal and Social Development Linda Self-management---skills--problem solving, decision making, resource utilization, action planning, and self-tailoring. The effectiveness of self-management interventions and posits a possible mechanism, self-efficacy, through which these interventions work. Self-awareness-the ability to perceive aspects of our personality, behavior, emotions, motivations, and thought ... Better Relationship Communication Skills. Social Awareness-Developing social awareness involves learning about the dynamics of social relationships between individuals, groups and communities. A socially aware individual values human rights and acknowledges the importance of harmonious social interaction for the developmental progress of human beings. Social awareness spans a wide spectrum, beginning with social skills development in early childhood and encompassing the level of social consciousness that leads to social activism and societal transformation. Relationship Skills- The skills used by a person to properly interact with others. Responsible Decision Making-the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to make responsible decisions.

Diminishes impulsivity Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program Content Area Strand: Personal and Social Development Self-Management- Diminishes impulsivity Social Awareness/Relationship Skills-Help form and maintain relationships Responsible Decision Making-Improve academic performance Self-Awareness-Improve self-esteem, reduce depression, decrease self-injurious behaviors Linda

What is Mindfulness? Paying attention, in a particular way, moment by moment, without judging Being present in the moment aware of thoughts/emotions and what is going on around us Pay attention to what you are doing while you are doing it...with kindness towards ourselves and others Sarah-talk about sound and use the chime again. Talk about how letting thoughts and sounds flow through, acknowledge thoughts and come back to breathing, check the weather within your body and mind

How the Brain Works...Flip Your Lid Thinking Brain Prefrontal Cortex helps solve problems pay attention make good choices Sarah

Flipping Your Lid Dan Siegel’s Brain Hand Puppet from Siegel & Hartzell (2003), Parenting from the Inside Out. P. 173. Linda/Sarah Talk to students about their brain. Use the hand to demonstrate the parts of the brain. Frontal Cortex---thinking part of the brain, such as solve problems, pay attention, and make good choices Cerebral Cortex Amygdala- responds to stress, fight/flight/or freeze

Alarming Amygdala

Alarming Amygdala Sarah

Amygdala Alarm! Security Guard-protects us from threats, reacts to danger and fear Fight, flight, or freeze! Mindful breathing can help calm your amygdala down Sarah-Bottle Example Linda- The amygdala is essential to the ability to feel certain emotions and to perceive the emotions of other people. Our children with meds for depression, PTSD, mood disorders have a hard time with this. The amygdala seems to modulate all of our reactions to events that are very important for survival. Essentially the amygdala helps us pay attention to the world around us.

Mindful Techniques Paying attention with our senses Sound Eating Breathing Movement Linda-raisins …...We can use simple daily activities as opportunities for training the mind to focus on our present moment experience without judging or striving. Mindfulness is a skill that is developed by practice. For your mind it helps with concentration, calms, promotes self-awareness, and helps mental clarity.

Sound (Chime or Bell) “A small chime or bell off of the internet (online bell) or phone app (Free Mindfulness Apps) offer an opportunity and reminder to stop, take a breath, come back to our body and focus. There are a couple bell activities to be used with students, which help them to notice their breath, concentrate or bring their focus back to the larger group.(Classroom Mindfulness, 2013)” Focus and Attention Concentrate on Breath Listen to Instruction...what is the next step? Reference http://classroommindfulness.com/2013/10/20/week-4-oct-21st-25th/ Sarah: 1) The bell or chime may be used as a signal for students to bring their focus and attention, first to their breath and then to whatever is going to happen next in the classroom. To be used anytime, the bell can be an effective method for transitioning between activities (e.g., whenever the bell or chime sounds, all will pause whatever they are doing, and take three mindful breaths before continuing.) 2) With eyes closed, ask students to concentrate on their breath, and know when they are breathing in, or out, or just in between in and out. Tell them that at some point you will ring the bell, and they are to notice whether they are breathing in, out, or in between at the sound of the bell. This activity provides a playful framework for simply noticing out breath for a few moments, and maintaining concentration. 3) Have students close their eyes. The instruction is “When the bell is struck, listen to the sound as it rings and keeps on ringing, and when you can’t hear it any more, raise your hand”. After a few moments of stillness, ringer gently taps the bell, and all listen.

Mindful Eating Pause to know you are breathing. Feel the sensation of the interior of your body. Sense the bottom of your feet. See, smell, touch, hear your food. Then eat--and taste. Chew and know you are chewing. Sense chewing, sense breath, sense body, not thinking, but direct sensation of each. Notice conect of mind and return to sensation of eating (Apply the C-NOTE). Pause when finished. Offer kindness to yourself, to your body, to all those who made this food possible. Your Gateway to Healing, Diane Renz LPC Sarah/Linda Mindful eating guides us back to a quality of awareness which reconnects us to our body and its real needs. We then notice the color, texture, smell, sound and desire as we eat mindfully. C-Note Curious, non-judging, openess, turning toward, and engaged…..this is creating the ambience for your meal. SITE…..sensations, images, thoughts, and emotions

Set the table... C-NOTE C-Curious N-Non-Judging O-Openness T-Turning Toward E-Engaged SITE S-Sensations I-Images T-Thoughts E-Emotions Sarah-Enchilada Casserole

Balloon Breath-Yoga for Classrooms Begin in sitting mountain pose with a tall straight spine. Close your eyes and place your hands gently on your lower belly. Imagine that your belly just turned into a balloon. Slowly inflate the balloon by breathing in through your nose. Feel your belly expand as your balloon fills with air. Slowly deflate your balloon by exhaling the stale balloon air out through your nose. Repeat 4-6 times. Notice how you feel. Linda-Think about students that come to your office or are in the hallway in distress or anxious. We deal with difficult emotions such as anxiety anger, grief, all can cause stress. With mindfulness we develop a sense of “allowing” emotions to be, just as they are, without all the other stuff. One way to do this is by breathing. Stress is created in the body when the mind tries to cling to some things and avoid/ or escape other things. Balloon Breath-Yoga for Classrooms

Mindful Movement Elementary Use Animal Poses Stir the Soup Side Bends Twist Washer/Dryer Use Animal Poses Eagle Cat Middle School & High School Shoulder Rolls Neck Rolls Cat Pose Open Heart Sarah

Relaxation Techniques Imagery/Visualization Progressive Muscle Relaxation Breathing Physical Exercise Undersea Adventure-Sarah

What does this look like in a school day? Elementary Morning Meeting Transitions After Lunch Community Building or Celebration Linda-talk about our PD day for teachers One way to teach students to be mindful of their bodies is through slow and deliberate movements. A yoga program that incorporated mediation decreased children’s hyperactivity, inattention, and anxiety and improved their peer relationships and sleep patterns (Harrison, Manocha, & Rubia, 2004). The movements in a yoga program are slow and force the mind to focus on staying in one position for an extended period of time. For a child with ADHD, this movement can help expel energy and make concentrating in class much easier. Mindfulness can help students become aware of thoughts they are having. If they can be taught to recognize unexpected or impulsive thoughts, they may be more likely to learn how to stop unwanted behavior

What does this look like in a school day? Middle & High School Small Group Pre-Testing Testing Break Writing Prep Confidence Boost Alleviate Negativity Physical Education Unit Linda

Individual Counseling Anger Management-Geyser Pose Hyperactivity-Balloon Breath, Candle Gazing, Peace Crawl Nervous-Power Breath Coloring Mandalas Sarah-talk about self care as well

Middle School Small Group Students selected by medical information from school nurse, teacher recommendation, and parent request Groups for both male and females with approximately 10 participants Meet for 6 weeks with times rotating through student’s schedule Learn new mindfulness technique each week Linda six dots handout The notion of “thinking outside the box” is similar to Edward De Bono‟s “lateral thinking” and the nine dots puzzle has been widely used by business consultants to demonstrate that solving problems often requires a new perspective or thinking beyond traditional boundaries. It as been argued however that using nine dots to represent the myriad of business „problems‟, each with more than one possible solution, is probably better at making consultants feel superior to their clients than actually providing useful strategies that can be applied in business. Professor Daniel Kies, a linguist and English teacher at the College of DuPage, offers an animated solution to the puzzle and interesting explanation about why it can be so difficult to solve:

Example of Perspective . . . nine dots handout….Can you connect all nine dots by drawing four lines without lifting your pencil? The notion of “thinking outside the box” is similar to Edward De Bono‟s “lateral thinking” Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. The term was coined in 1967 by Edward de Bono. and the nine dots puzzle has been widely used by business consultants to demonstrate that solving problems often requires a new perspective or thinking beyond traditional boundaries. It as been argued however that using nine dots to represent the myriad of business „problems‟, each with more than one possible solution. solution to the puzzle and interesting explanation about why it can be so difficult to solve:"When most of us look at the field of nine dots, we imagine a boundary around the edge of the dot array. In doing so, we limit ourselves to trying solutions to the puzzle that only link the dots inside the imaginary border. The result is futility. We can only solve the puzzle if we realize that there is no border."

Thank you! Linda Peterson, MA. LPC Hixson Middle School Webster Groves School District 314-918-4554 peterson.linda@wgmail.org Sarah Bodi, MA Hixson Middle School Webster Groves School District 314-918-4555 bodi.sarah@wgmail.org