Mindfulness
True of False: Mindfulness is about putting all of your attention and energy into the present moment. It means you notice when your mind is distracted and bring your attention back to what you are doing!
true
True or False: Progressive Muscle Relaxation involves repeatedly tightening and relaxing each of your muscles to help calm your body.
True
You show up to school and realize you have a math test first period that you did not study for. Your heart starts to beat really fast and you go into panic mode. Select the best option for positive self-talk
1) "I didn't study. I'm not going to do well. Whatever, I don't even care."
2) "Just take a deep breath and get through it. All I can do is try my best at this point. I made an honest mistake in forgetting and that's ok."
3) "I am the smartest person in the world. I'm going to ace this test. Just watch..."
2-self-talk works best when we are honest, genuine, and kind to ourselves.
What is one judgment you have had about a celebrity?
answers may vary
The point of this question is to remind us that we all have judgments about ourselves and others. It is human nature and sometimes judgements keeps us safe. Most of the time, judgments get in the way of us being fully present in the moment and interacting with others. Notice your judgments and let them go!
What is the difference between emotion mind and rule mind?
Emotion Mind: when you act and make decisions based on your intense emotions in the moment (not thinking about the consequences or facts of the situation)
Rule Mind: when you act and make decisions based on only the facts or "rules" and you push down your feelings.
1) How does "taking a vacation" in our mind help us get through tough moments?
2) What "happy place" do you like to go to in your mind when you have painful or uncomfortable emotions?
1) Visualization (taking a vacation in our mind) can be soothing and distracting to us when we experience big feelings that are painful or overwhelming.
2) students on the team can share about their happy places from the lesson.
Describe two ways that you could distract yourself in a really stressful moment with enjoyable activities or by helping someone.
answers may vary--reference class list of enjoyable activities and ways to help/be kind to others!
How are our feelings similar to waves?
Just like waves, our feelings eb and flow. They go up and down and are constantly changing in intensity. Our feelings eventually go away (like a wave reaching the shore).
What is Wise Mind?
Wise Mind is when you use both your emotions and the facts/rules of the situation (emotion mind and rule mind) to make decisions. We make our best decisions in Wise Mind!
A) What are six different ways you can self-soothe?
B) Give an example of how you can use one of these ways to self-soothe (think about the different activities you did in class with your self-soothe kits!)
1) 5 senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and movement
2) Listening to a song, smelling a specific scent, getting cozy in a favorite blanket, petting a pet, stress ball, looking at pictures, eating something very flavorful, dancing, stretching, swaying, etc. (answers will vary!)
There are always four options when you are faced with a problem or a difficult situation. What is the fourth option?
1.Figure out how to solve the problem.
2.Change how you think or feel about the problem.
3. ______________________________
4.Stay miserable – or make things worse
Radically accept the problem! Face the reality. Accept the things in your life that are out of your control and that you can’t change!
What is one issue that you think students can "speak up, stand up" more for in this school? What is one way you might do this?
answers may vary!
Your teacher continues to yell at you for talking in class, but you are not the one talking! You start to feel angry, misunderstood, and embarrassed.
1) What would be an EMOTION MIND response in this moment?
2) What would be a RULE MIND response in this moment?
3) What would be a WISE MIND response in this moment?
Answers may vary!
1) scream back, curse, run out of the room
2) I shouldn't talk back to teachers. They have the authority. I'm not going to say anything at all.
3) Wait until independent work time and approach the teacher about how you feel. Write the teacher a note expressing yourself; calmly and respectfully explain that you are not the one talking.
Fill in the blanks:
Paced breathing is when you breathe in through your ____________ and out through your _____________. You should exhale for ____________ (longer/shorter) than you inhale. Your shoulders should be ______________ (up/down).
Nose, mouth, longer, down
Think about the four options for solving a problem.
a) Which choice did the person make below?
b) What would "radical acceptance" look like in this situation?
You don’t make the basketball team so you go to the coach, curse her out, demand to try out again, write your name on the list, start showing up to practice, get in fights with kids on the team, and eventually are told that you are not allowed in the gym during practice and are not allowed to attend games)
a) staying miserable/making things worse
b) "I didn't make the team and I really, really wanted to. I'm so frustrated and disappointed in myself for how things turned out. I'm allowed to be annoyed and sad because I worked hard. I can't change the decision though...it is what it is. I'm going to try to accept it even though I don't like it."
Why is mindfulness important to practice when you are using different strategies for calming down during BIG FEELING moments? (For example, how is it helpful to use mindfulness when you are self-soothing or distracting with an activity?)
Mindfulness helps us be fully focused and present in whatever it is that we are doing. If we are trying to self-soothe with music and our attention and energy are not fully on the music, this strategy wont work! Similarly, if we decide to watch a tv show to calm down and we spend the whole time thinking about the thing that made us upset, this won't help us either! Mindfulness is about putting all of your focus and attention into the moment so that you can be most effective in whatever it is that you are doing--whether it's math, calming down from a big feeling, accepting a hard reality in your life, or getting ice cream with your friends.
How does mindfulness help us when we have BIG FEELINGS and we are trying to get through a tough moment?
Answers may vary but should mention these two concepts:
1) Mindfulness increases our awareness of our big feeling, which is the first step in regulating our emotions.
2) When we are using a skill to calm down, we can use mindfulness to keep us focused and attentive while we are using that specific skill (instead of focusing on the thing that got us into emotion mind).
What is the dive reflex? And, how can we use what we use really cold temperature to help us calm down?
•When divers jump in cold water, our body automatically slows heart rate and breathing and conserves oxygen in response to cold on our face. This is a super power survival skill we all have!
•We can also use this reflex to help calm ourselves when we have intense emotions. We can use an ice pack or really cold water to get them same sensation so that our body slows down.
Give an example of when it would be helpful to use opposite action. In your example, please say:
1) the feeling
2) the action urge
3) the opposite action
answers may vary!
What does it mean to VALIDATE someone else's feeling? Give an example in your response!
Validating someone's feelings says to them “you are allowed to have this feeling. "The feeling you are having makes total sense to me!”
Letting the other person know that we understand how they feel--their feelings are real and valid and they make sense in the situation. When we use validation, we really show another person that we “get them” and that we are here for them. It is one of the best things we can do when we are listening.
**Validation does not mean you agree with the person’s point of view. It means that you can understand their perspective.
Examples: "I would feel sad too." "you have every right to be mad." "It sounds like you are really disappointed right now, I get that."