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Space Breathing (Peace Out: Guided Meditation for Kids) | Cosmic Kids

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Balloon (Peace Out: Guided Meditation for Kids) | Cosmic Kids

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30 Days of Mindfulness in the Classroom (Calm app)

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The key is practice and adult support, says Hurley. "You have to practice this when they're calm. When kids are hot, it's not the time to start saying, 'Do deep breathing.' The brain will say, 'That'll never work. This is a five-alarm fire - I can't just breathe my way through it!' But when we take those deep breaths, the brain starts to say, 'Oh, wait a minute, it's not as bad as I thought. I can handle this.'"

When we practice deep breathing regularly, it becomes a habit. Habitual strategies are key because when we are faced with a stressor, we instinctively enter "fight or flight mode." And then it is harder for our brains to access coping strategies. Hurley urges parents and teachers to start the day with a breathing exercise, take a mid-day breathing break and do it again before bed. "That way our brain internalizes it and says, 'Oh, hey, you know what? Breathing calms me down. This is something that helps me feel good.'"

Maintain a Balanced Wellness Diet

Our brains tend to overreact to perceived threats and stressors, says Hurley, sending up false alarms that say to us, "This is bad. Nothing's working. Everything's horrible. You're in trouble.'"

And this internal alarm system is extra-sensitive when basic needs are not being met including sleep, exercise, hydration and nutrition. Hurley emphasizes the following basics with parents and teachers: kids need 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night; they need to drink water; they need to move their bodies; and they need to eat healthy foods.

"It's all interrelated. When these needs aren't being met, children's coping skills are compromised and one little stressor, like a timed math test, can send their brains into overload." That's why a system-wide commitment to healthy school lunches, movement breaks and recess supports students' physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

"Let's Do This Together"

When children are emotionally hot, adults often send them away to deal with their feelings on their own - such as out into the hallway or up to their room.

Some of that comes from our own anxiety, says Hurley. "When our kids yell at us or throw a tantrum, it triggers us. We might think, 'Oh no, I don't know how to handle this.'" But this strategy also makes logical sense to us: "When adults get overwhelmed with emotion, we want to be alone. We say, 'I just need five minutes to myself to collect my thoughts.'"

But most kids don't want that. "When kids are feeling their worst is when they want the most connection," says Hurley. When they lose control, what they are really saying is "'I need you - I don't know how to do this.' But we send them away to be alone with all their negative, scary, intrusive thoughts."

Instead, says Hurley, "we have to learn how to meet their storm with our calm." That starts with empathy, says Hurley. Alternatively, she suggests saying, "'This is really hard,' or 'I can see that you are really upset/angry/scared.'" Then follow it with "I'm going to help you through it. Now sounds like a good time to take a nice deep breath. Let's do this together. Do you want to do square breathing or blow up a balloon?"

For those everyday emotional fluctuations, Hurley recommends that teachers and parents create a "calm corner" in the house or classroom: a place where children can self-select to spend a few minutes when they notice their emotional temperature rise. You can stock it with soft squeeze balls, glitter jars or fancy coloring pages - anything that is a tension reliever.

These small interventions not only support emotional health, but they also build adult-child relationships that will pay off over time. "Children need anchors, and we are their anchors," says Hurley. "That's our job as parents, as educators and as coaches. We have to practice these things on our own so that when things go wrong - and they will every single day - we will feel ready for it."

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Before Kids' Emotions Run High, Practice These Steps During Calmer Times - MindShift

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The key is practice and adult support, says Hurley. "You have to practice this when they're calm. When kids are hot, it's not the time to start saying, 'Do deep breathing.' The brain will say, 'That'll never work. This is a five-alarm fire - I can't just breathe my way through it!'

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Mindful belly breathing with fluffy friend.

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Mindful belly breathing with fluffy friend.

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1. Find a fluffy friend and a spot to lay down.
2. Put the fluffy friend on your belly.
3. Watch it move up and down as you breath calmly.

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1. Hold one hand up and spread your fingers.
2. With your other pointer finger, trace the outline of your hand. Each time you go up a finger, breathe in. Each time you go down, breathe out.
3. Repeat with the other hand.

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Rainbow Breath - Learn To Raise Your Energy | Meditation For Kids | Breathing Exercises | GoNoodle

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Calming Exercises for Kids: Breathing and Stretching

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Mindful movements - Big Ideas - Classdojo

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Mindful breathing with Mojo - Big Ideas - Classdojo

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15/21 Days of Mindfulness Bootcamp - 5 Minutes Bodyscan Meditation for Families and classrooms

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Mindful Minute: Quick Mindfulness Meditation Exercise for Kids by GoZen!

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A gift of self awareness for yourself, and for others. Based on decades of research from Yale. Tell your Mood Meter mobile app how you feel and build emotional intelligence that lasts a lifetime.

Expand your emotional vocabulary Discover the nuances in your feelings.

Gain insights about your inner life Learn what's causing your feelings over time.

Regulate your feelings Use strategies to regulate your feelings: enhance how you manage your life.

Remember to check in with yourself Use reminders to check-in on your feelings throughout the day.

View your report Learn how your feelings are affecting your decisions, relationships, and performance.

Over time, you'll develop emotional intelligence skills that can help you in all areas of life.

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A gift of self awareness for yourself, and for others. Based on decades of research from Yale. Tell your Mood Meter mobile app how you feel and build emotional intelligence that lasts a lifetime. Expand your emotional vocabulary Discover the nuances in your feelings.

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Sensory Strategies That Help Students Refocus on Learning

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Elementary students face a constant stream of distracting sensory stimuli throughout the day, but these simple, quick exercises can help them stay on track.

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(explains fear response and coping strategy)

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(explains fear response and coping strategy)

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How Kids Can Deal with Anxiety | Cosmic Kids Zen Den - Mindfulness for kids

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Calm is the #1 app for sleep and meditation. Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety.

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Many of us tend to move through the school day on autopilot, rarely going outside, and some days we don't go outside at all. But I've found that whenever I make time to get outside while at school, I feel better instantly. For whatever reason, going outside while working almost feels a little scandalous, like I'm playing hooky. Maybe that's part of the delight. However, the primary reason I feel better when I'm outside is best explained in the studies that link time spent outdoors with happiness and overall well-being.

A 2017 study in Environmental Health Perspectives, for example, found that "nature contact offers considerable promise in addressing a range of health challenges, including many, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety, that are public health priorities."

Yet many of us spend most of our days under artificial lights in classrooms and offices, our faces illuminated by screens. We don't go outside unless we need to supervise an outdoor activity or move from one building to another. So many Americans are overworked, stressed, and anxious. And educators can struggle with these issues more than most, especially during the pandemic.

If something as simple as getting outside can help, it's worth considering-especially with the knowledge that it's healthier to be outside anyway.

How to Make It Happen

1. Schedule a solo walk, or plan to go with a colleague. Try to get out once a day, even if only for a few minutes. The exercise is nice, but the real benefit is having your spirits lifted by the world outside your school building. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, walking should be "the enterprise and adventure of the day." Think of how delightfully confused colleagues and students will be when you tell them you just returned from your "daily enterprise."

2. Take phone calls outside. Do this whenever possible, for both personal and work-related calls. For the win-win, walk while you talk.

3. Move small meetings to outdoor seating areas, such as picnic tables. This relaxes the tone of the meeting and brightens the mood. Ideally, you'll meet in a green space of some kind. In Your Brain on Nature, physician Eva M. Selhub and biophilosopher Alan C. Logan write, "Exposure to nature-based environments is associated with lower blood pressure and reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol (and other objective markers of stress)."

4. Eat outside. If you have days without lunch duties or meetings, take the meal outside. Encourage others to join you.

5. Try walking meetings. They work surprisingly well both one-on-one and in small groups. A 2014 Stanford University study found that a walking meeting "opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity." The lack of eye contact might also allow you and your colleagues to let your guard down a bit and be more honest. Someone can record notes on their phone, if needed.

6. Bring your work outside. This is helpful if you need to be less accessible for a while and also allows you to reap the stress-reducing, creativity-boosting benefits outlined above. And if you need to do writing or planning work, give your eyes-and brain, for that matter-a break and leave your laptop inside. Bring a notebook. While there's conflicting research about the creative benefits of writing by hand versus typing, going analog can slow you down just enough to allow new ideas to form that might not have otherwise.

7. Just take a short break. Bring a book, or clear your mind with some meditation. If you're aghast at the idea of taking this kind of break, keep in mind the paradoxical truth that taking breaks helps us to focus on our work.

None of these ideas are radical, yet actually doing any of them can feel radical when we're accustomed to spending entire school days inside. The more time we spend inside, the more we tend to believe that's where all the real work happens.

There are still plenty of occasions when, after a full day at school, I realize while walking to the parking lot that it's the first time I've been outside since I arrived that morning. The weather doesn't have to be perfect. As someone writing from New England, where the weather is... fickle, I can assure you that half of the options above are workable even in so-called inclement weather. You can keep seasonally appropriate clothes and footwear at school. Sometimes a brisk walk on a brisk day is exactly what you need.

It makes no difference whether your school is in a rural, suburban, or urban area. Many urban schools have access to green spaces, and if not, sometimes just exposure to the air and sky is enough. The point is simply to get outside. No Central Park required.

We take for granted the importance of getting our students outside-for learning, play, and exercise-because it benefits their mental and physical health. However, since our work is centered around serving others, we often forget about our own needs-in this case, that we need to get outside for the same reasons as our students. So, in the hustle of your school days, try stepping outside. Take advantage of this simple, accessible way to restore your energy, lift your spirits, and return to yourself.

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Many of us tend to move through the school day on autopilot, rarely going outside, and some days we don't go outside at all. But I've found that whenever I make time to get outside while at school, I feel better instantly. For whatever reason, going outside while working almost feels a little scandalous, like I'm playing hooky.

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Current Training Opportunities

Primary School Mental Health & Resilience Program

We've expanded our education program to meet the increasing needs of Australian primary schools to deliver a more integrated, impactful program for kids and their communities. We've also added a range of new features you've been asking for including:

Enriched impact evaluation

Ability to connect with other Smiling Mind teachers around the country

Specialist modules for ADHD and Trauma Informed training

Parent and Teacher Workshops

Opportunity for Whole School or Individual Teacher development

Regional & Rural Funded Schools Program

Thanks to generous support from the Commonwealth Government, we're rolling out our Whole School Program in 600 regional and rural Australian primary schools. See if your school is eligible.

Over 180,000 Australian educators are using Smiling Mind - that's more than half of all Australian teachers.

The Smiling Mind Primary School Mental Health and Resilience Program is underpinned by a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning framework. Research has shown that developing mindfulness skills can help primary-aged children to develop emotion and behaviour regulation skills, improve attention and concentration, and facilitate optimal environments for learning. Fundamental to the program is training, access to a range of resources and ongoing support for educators.

Mapped to the Australian and Victorian Curricula and included in the Be You Programs Directory, the program assists schools to implement and sustain meaningful development and impactful change - benefiting students, teachers and the whole school community.

How we support you

All of our training is complemented with resources to enhance the learning experience and depending on the tier of training you opt in for, there is an opportunity to access all of the below.

CONTACT US

If you're a school leader, parent or teacher looking for support or an answer to a question we haven't covered above, try sending us an email. education@smilingmind.com.au

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Mindfulness Education Program - Smiling Mind

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We've expanded our education program to meet the increasing needs of Australian primary schools to deliver a more integrated, impactful program for kids and their communities.

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Watch & Stream Free Kids Yoga Videos | Cosmic Kids

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Watch and stream kids yoga videos in a safe space on our website. Cosmic Kids' most popular adventures can be found here as well as on our app.

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Identifying and observing emotions

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Be the Pond | Cosmic Kids Zen Den - Mindfulness for kids

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Time Out (Peace Out: Guided Meditation for Kids) | Cosmic Kids

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Self regulation Writing activities for 30 days

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Bubble Bounce! Mindfulness for Children (Mindful Looking)

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Seesaw Activity - Mindfulness Reflection

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Today you will choose a mindfulness exercise and reflect on how you feel before and after. You will need: iPad. 1. Tap the :link: to choose a mindfulness exercise. 2. Tap :add: and answer the questions.

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Seesaw creates a powerful learning loop between students, teachers, and families

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The Guided Relaxation column is one of the most popular features of our digital magazine.

Now you don't have to flip through all of our back issues to find these treasured guided imagery scripts. These peaceful guided relaxation scripts are written especially for Green Child readers by Mellisa Dormoy of ShambalaKids.

Her meditation audios help children and teens relieve stress and anxiety, improve self-esteem, feel great (mind, body, and spirit) and develop a positive mental attitude at school and at home.

Browse the topics below to see which guided meditation will most benefit your child. The titles in this section lead to posts on our website where you can read them aloud to your child from your tablet or phone.

Or if you prefer to download and print them, you'll find PDF versions of these guided imagery scripts in the next section below.

Once you choose a guided meditation script for your child, you may want to yourself to find the rhythm prior to reading it aloud to your child. Once you're ready and your child is relaxed, simply read it in a calm voice, pausing to let the words and feelings sink in.

Links to Guided Relaxation Scripts

Get the Downloadable PDFs of these Guided Relaxation Scripts

Subscribe to access the library and you'll be able to browse the 30+ topics to see which guided meditation will most benefit your child.

Once you choose a guided meditation script for your child, you may want to read it to yourself to find the rhythm prior to reading it aloud to your child. Once you're ready and your child is relaxed, simply read it in a calm voice, pausing to let the words and feelings sink in.

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The Guided Relaxation column is one of the most popular features of our digital magazine. Now you don't have to flip through all of our back issues to find these treasured guided imagery scripts. These peaceful guided relaxation scripts are written especially for Green Child readers by Mellisa Dormoy of ShambalaKids.

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Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness | 9780861715671 | Deborah R. Schoeberlein |... | bol.com

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Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness (Paperback). Mindfulness is going mainstream, and author Deborah Schoeberlein pioneers its practical...

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FOFBOC - a 10 minute mindfulness practice for daily use

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Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom Training

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Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom is based on the award-winning book and delivered by author, Adrian Bethune. This course shares the research from the science of wellbeing and shows how to bring it to life in a primary classroom.

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The Seeds of Happiness Course by Adrian Bethune

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The Seeds of Happiness Course is a fun and engaging course for teachers, where they will learn how to teach children about the science of happiness, and how they can positively impact their own happiness levels, and those of their friends and family, by the actions they take.

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How to Eat More Mindfully | The Science of Happiness

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Mindful Eating 🍎 Easy Mindfulness for Kids 🙂 Fun Guided Mediation for Children 🍏 Lunchtime Fun

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Flower Power (Peace Out: Guided Meditation for Kids) | Cosmic Kids