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Definitions
Skills
Emotion Exploration
Application
Skills 2
100

Feelings

Feelings are something that we feel from within or inside ourselves. They are a reaction to how our body is feeling.

100

Listening to music

Listening to music can reduce stress by:

  1. Decreasing blood pressure
  2. Lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol
  3. Reducing heart rate
  4. Triggering pleasure and emotional release
  5. Distracting from stressors
100

What emotion do you feel when your face turns red, your heart starts beating faster, you clench your fists, and your body feels hot and you want to yell or fight?

Anger, rage, mad

100

What skills could you use when you can't focus in the classroom and are feeling like you need to move or have too much energy?

Fidgit, deep breathing, ask for a break, mindfulness, asking to take a walk

100

Describe the skill: Body Scan

To do a body scan, you can follow these steps:

  1. Sit comfortably and take a deep breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth.
  2. As you breathe out, close the eyes.
  3. Starting at the top of the head, gently scan down through the body, noticing what feels comfortable and what feels uncomfortable.
200

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply… noticing what is happening right now.

200

Talking to someone

Talking to someone can reduce stress:

  • Sharing negative emotions with someone we trust can be healing.
  • It can strengthen our immune system and reduce physical and emotional distress.
  • Face-to-face interactions are more beneficial than text or phone calls.
  • Vocal tone, eye contact, and physical touch play a role in calming our nervous systems.
  • Specific interaction with someone who genuinely understands our emotions provides measurable relief from stress.
200

What emotion are you feeling when you want to cry, isolate, are missing something or someone or are upset with something. 

Sadness, frustration, disappointment. 

200

What skills could you use when you are angry because you lost at a game and are being trash talked? 

Walking away, deep breathing, talk to someone, mindfulness, grounding 54321.

200

Describe the skill: Progressive muscle relaxation

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) can be done by following these steps123:

  1. Find a quiet place free from distractions.
  2. Lie on the floor or recline in a chair, loosen any tight clothing, and remove glasses or contacts.
  3. Rest your hands in your lap or on the arms of the chair.
  4. Take a few slow, even breaths.
  5. Tense a specific muscle group for 4 to 10 seconds.
  6. Start from your feet to your head.
300

Thoughts

Thoughts are the words that run through your mind. They are words we say to ourselves about what's going on around us. 

300

Exercise 

Exercising reduces stress by:

  • Reducing levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol.
  • Stimulating the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators.
  • Pumping up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.
  • Reducing negative effects of stress.
  • Improving your mood.
300

What emotion are you feeling when your heart is beating fast, your mind is racing with a lot of thoughts, you are thinking about what could go wrong, you are having trouble sitting still?

Anxiety, worry, stress

300

What skills could you use when you are embarrassed in front of a friend or peers?

Mindfulness, positive self-talk, grounding 54321, walking away, talking to someone, listening to music, fidgeting.

300

Describe the skill: Cue controlled relaxation

Cue-controlled relaxation is a technique that pairs a specific environmental cue or cues with the relaxation response

1. It is a type of classical conditioning that pairs a state of relaxation with a word of your choosing

2. Over time and with practice, saying that one word causes deep relaxation

2. The cue helps the individual remember to engage in relaxation exercises, developing a daily environment that promotes relaxation and stress relief1.

400

Grounding

  • Grounding exercises are activities that reduce anxiety and focus on the present moment by engaging the senses and interrupting the mind and body’s automatic response to anxiety.
400

Fidgits

Individuals with anxiety may fidget or make small movements when they are feeling anxious, restless, impatient or nervous. Fidget toys give these movements an outlet, which can help calm a person’s nerves, relieve stress and serve as a distraction in an overstimulating environment.

400

What emotion are you feeling when you are feeling positive, feeling social and talkative, are smiling and wanting to dance or skip?

Happiness, joy, gladness

400

What skill could you use when you are feeling sad and wanting to cry and have a lot of strong emotions?

Crying, talking to someone, art, listening to music, going for a walk, visualization, mindfulness, body scan.

400

Describe the skill: Grounding 5-4-3-2-1

Before you BEGIN the 54321 Grounding exercise

  • Close your eyes and start inhaling a long breath slowly by expanding the belly
  • Hold the breath for 4 seconds
  • Finally, release the breath slowly for 6 seconds or more
  • Repeat until you feel a calmness in your body
500

Wise Mind

The wise mind is where we find the balance between the reasonable mind and the emotional mind.

500

Art

Creating art can reduce stress in several ways:

  • Acts as a form of self-care.
  • Helps you tap into a "state of flow".
  • Takes your mind off things.
  • Provides calming effects.
  • Minimizes anxiety and combats negative moods.
500

What emotion are you feeling when you think you did a good job at something, feel like you are doing better than before, maybe feel like you did a better job than someone else, are feeling capable of doing things and wanting recognition for your efforts?

Confident, proud

500

What skills can you use when you are feeling worried, overwhelmed, anxious, concerned about an event or situation?

body scan, talking to someone, mindfulness, deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization of a relaxing place, listening to music, fidgeting. 

500

How do you use the skill: Visualization

Here are five steps to get you started on your visualization practice:

  1. Write what you want in detail, engaging all 5 senses. As you include more sensory images, your vision will become more palpable. And you'll be more motivated to follow through to make the outcome happen. ...
  2. Imagine the emotion attached to the outcome. ...
  3. Take action every day toward your desired outcome. ...
  4. Expand your knowledge. ...
  5. Make time to consider your visualization. ...