The children are ready to sit for a bit longer now that they have been practicing sitting & noticing their breathing and listening to the bell daily. Every day after recess, we listen to the bell in our still mountain bodies. The only rule is that they must remain quiet and not distract others and raise their hand quietly when they notice the bell has stopped for them. We began this school year with noticing our breath with games, stuffies and a sphere. The children even taught Scaredy Squirrel how to self regulate an calm down using the 'Breathing' Sphere. Here, Here and Here So, we also use the sphere several times a week. There is one in quiet island which many use although the pinwheels are a favorite calming tool. During all quiet periods, we notice how our bodies feel after our brief period of stillness . Many can share what they noticed during the activity. It is now clear that most can sit longer. Also, if I forget to do the bell someone will remind me. They enjoy this quiet time. The children are at different places noticing when the bell stops for them , if they wandered mentally away from the sound or the sphere. Some can share if a thought , a sensation, another sound etc. arose and if they could return their attention to the object. I have explained we get mentally 'stronger' every time we notice we wander off and return to our object of attention. Meaning we can sit & attend longer to the bell or sphere. We then discussed what an anchor's function was and how an anchor was what we could also place our attention onto. Many called it a 'hook' as well. The bell and sphere were anchors for us at this time. I explained how the Emwaves worked and the color system of lights, sounds etc. For most this was a review. A few experienced students shared how they got 'green' and we all settled into our chairs to give it a go. The children were excited to try out 2 minutes with the Emwaves. I was amazed that they could have easily gone longer. | I am grateful that Heartmath gave me 6 more Emwaves for my efforts to help my class learn to self regulate. I can now work in larger groups allowing us to sit & learn together using a very visual handheld device that supports us as a visual anchor and real time feedback. See more about the Emwaves here, here and here. |
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