Mindful Skills 1
When we focus on one body part at a time, this is called a Body....
Scan
Body Scan is one way to practice Mindful Body Awareness (one of the seven mindful skills).
The area of the brain that acts as our alarm.
Amygdala
When we send a heartful blast to others and ourselves, what Mindful Skill are we practicing?
Mindful Heartfulness
Noticing when our thoughts are in the past, present, or future.
Mindful Thinking
A friend at school hurt her knee playing a game. She is crying and holding onto her leg. After she has cried a bit, what mindful skills can she use especially to help herself start to use her PFC?
Mindful Body Awareness - focus on one body part at a time... are other body parts ok? Noticing if she needs to see the nurse or not.
Mindful Heartfulness - telling herself that accidents happen to everyone
Mindful Breathing - focus on breathing
Our three Anchor Points that we can focus on when breathing mindfully.
Nose, Chest, Belly
During a mindful sit OR in everyday interactions, we can breath using one of these anchor points to help us focus and be aware of the present moment.
Emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, boredom, excitement come from this area of the brain.
Amygdala
Noticing how you feel in the present moment.
Using a friendly flashlight combines mindfulness with one of these 7 skills.
Mindful Heartfulness.
Mindfulness and Heartfulness always go together. This helps us balance our the inner critic in us all.
Your brother/sister always wants to hog the screen. What can you do to use your PFC versus yell at them?
Take a moment to breath.
Notice if this is a big deal or a small deal.
Use a calm voice to tell them that sharing will help you both have screen time.
The definition of Mindfulness is...
Paying attention to the present moment without judgement.
Paying attention to the present moment with kindness
What part of the brain is "off" when we Flip Our Lid?
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
Focusing on three things you are grateful for is one way of practicing this mindful skills.
Mindful Gratitude
When our own heartful buckets are full, it's easier to be kind to others (Yes/No).
YES!
If our buckets are empty, it's difficult to be kind to others. We need to take care of our bodies (eating healthy meals, sleeping, exercising/playing sports) and our minds (doing things that make us happy - reading/hanging out with friends/etc.) to be ready to learn at school and be the best version of ourselves in life.
Your best friend is moving to another state. How can we be mindful?
Notice that this is a big deal!
It's ok to feel sad.
Let sadness visit you for as long as it needs to.
Know that emotions will come and go - they will not visit forever.
In mindfulness, we notice emotions as...
Friends (or visitors).
Welcome each emotion (instead of pushing them away or ignoring them) helps us have a healthy relationship with our feelings.
THINKING about our actions and choices BEFORE we act.
Responding (versus Reacting).
When we take a moment to use our PFC versus reacting to our amygdala/alarm system, we can make better choices.
Thinking some thing is good or bad based in how someone looks, dresses, eats or acts.
Judgement
The tool we using when breathing to stay present in the middle of chaos. (A similar name for a weight on a boat that prevents it from drifting away in the sea.)
Anchor Spot
Your friends notice that you get into accidents very often at school (almost once a day!)... bumping your head on the playground, running into a chair, tripping down the stairs.
What Mindful Skill practice can you use more of?
Mindful Body Awareness
Noticing a difficult emotion and naming the emotion out loud three (3) times. Then taking a deep breath.
This helps us use our PFC.
This is how parts of the brain communicate with each other and parts of the body.
Neurons.
Electrical and chemical signals control sensations, movements, thoughts, and memories
The number of sounds we focus on when listening mindfully.
One (1)
Is it normal to feel distracted? (Yes/No)
What can we do to practice focusing when feeling distracted?
YES!
Any of the seven (7) skills!!!
Demonstrate and lead three (3) different breathing techniques.
Ocean, Fireworks, Alligator, Spider, etc.