Symmetry, Monsters, and Basquiat!

It is nourishing that most Mind Move Make classes start in a similar way.  At the beginning of class, have a Mind Move Make cheer that we chant together.  Then we pair breath and movement together as a student leads us in three volcano breaths.  We move our bodies through a few gentle seated stretches, then we either have a mindful minute together, or we use the breathing ball to find unity with the inhales and our exhales of our breath.  To start the class, I lead some of the activities, and some things are student-lead.  This empowers the children and transforms them into the teachers.  The consistency of our practice connects us during every class; it is comforting for students know what to expect, at least during the first part of class together.  After a busy day of school in which many mental demands have been placed on children, it is a wonderful way to re-center.

After gently moving our bodies, remembering our breath, and engaging in some mindful focus, we usually have a discussion!  Today during class I read the students a book called Life Doesn't Frighten Me.  The words in the book were written by the poet Maya Angelou, and the paintings were created by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.  

Our central idea for this session is "all people experience different kinds of emotions", so I asked the students to reflect on the feelings shared within the book, both through the artwork and the words of the poem. We had a fantastic conversation about being brave, even in the face of scary things that might be happening around us. We also discussed how every single human has been afraid at some point during their life. I shared a time in my own life when I felt scared. The students could choose to share a time they felt afraid, or they could pass if they didn't feel comfortable. All the students really liked the paintings by Basquiat and some children shared their favorites with our group.

After our talk, we took the time to move our bodies through a few yoga shapes. Starting in child's pose I asked the students to think about their breath and also to focus on how they were feeling, emotionally, at that moment. Child's pose is a great time for children to check in with themselves and focus internally. After that, we laid on our backs and drew circles in the air with our knees. During many yoga classes I challenge the students to "rock and roll" in a circle on their mats while lying on their backs and grabbing the backs of their knees. It is a fun way to bring some energetic movement into the group. After spending some time in down dog, we came to standing and cycled through a few warrior poses. Lastly, we sat on the ground with the soles of our feet together. We imagined our legs were butterfly wings. Ofter during class, when we create the "butterfly" pose I ask students to imagine what their own butterfly wings might look like. Then we spent some calming time in savasana, laying on our backs and simply being still for a few moments.

After our movement practice, it was time to begin creating artwork! I showed the students Basquiat's work again for inspiration. We talked about the idea of symmetry in art, and I explained that they would be creating a symmetrical shape that would become the head of a GIANT monster that we'd complete over the next few classes. And instead of cutting our shape we'd be RIPPING and tearing the paper to get the symmetrical shape we wanted. After demonstrating how to tear the paper with a little more control, they got started on their own creation. We used oil pastels to draw the details of the eyes, nose, mouth, and any other features they wanted to add! Here are the creations in progress!

 

Movement and Art: Becoming Lines

A Kindergarten artist transformed his squiggle into a dragon!

It is exciting to start another year of teaching with Mind Move Make!  I feel tremendous gratitude that I am able to bring mindfulness, movement, and art to children and adults in the Portland area.  I am thankful to spend my time working on and thinking about how to incorporate these three beautiful elements into a program that benefits others by offering skills and techniques in mindfulness and developing social-emotional learning.  So many of my passions get to interact and play together, all in the hopes of helping individuals find calm, develop self-regulation, cultivate creativity, explore emotions, and encourage a sense of community.  I am fortunate to engage in this work everyday.

During my first class of the school year at Alameda, we started by getting used to the space and getting to know one another.  All students sat in a circle eating their snacks as we went around the room sharing our favorite foods and our names.  This sharing activity allows the students to start to cultivate a sense of community.  After that, I asked them to define the three components of our class: mindfulness, movement, and art.  I also elaborated about each idea, adding on to what was already shared.  In terms of mindfulness, I explained that it was paying attention to what is happening RIGHT NOW!

Then, I asked the returning students if any of them would like to demonstrate what a "mindful body" looks like and talk about what a mindful body is.  One student raised her hand and showed us what her body looks like in the "mindful" position.  Everyone got the chance to try on their own versions of a mindful body, with an upright spine, criss-crossed legs, and hands either resting on knees or on the belly.  After taking a few big, beautiful breaths in this position I asked everyone to try to take a nourishing breath sitting in their most slumped posture.  Everyone agreed that this did not feel good in their bodies and recognized that it was very hard to take a deep breath.

 With everyone inhabiting their mindful bodies, we started our first Mindful Minute practice together.  This is something we will practice every time we come together as a group.  I invited everyone to either close their eyes or gaze down towards the floor.  At first, I asked the students to pay attention to the sound of the singing bowl; to listen to that sound until they could not hear it anymore.  When they could no longer hear the singing bowl sound, they were to put one thumb up.  Then they were supposed to listen closely to other sounds happening all around them.  I explained that at the end of this practice everyone would have a chance to share what they heard.

After that we got the wiggles out with a little movement.  I taught the students Tadasana, or Mountain Pose.  Asking them to become their strongest mountain, I went around and tried to gently knock each student over.  With their feet firmly planted, they created a very sturdy base that is difficult to topple.  Next, the students were invited to dance, move, and shake anywhere in any way that felt good in their own bodies.  And when I rang the singing bowl, they were to once again find their Mountain Pose and follow their breath.  Everyone did a great job, and no mountains were crumbled as everyone remained strong and steady!

This is the second year that Mind Move Make has offered classes at Alameda Elementary.  This year, the students in the class are mostly Kindergarteners with a few returning first graders also participating.  For our first class I wanted to see where they were skill-wise in terms of art.  This would tell me where I could go with them this session in creating art.  To do this I brought back a project I did with first graders for many years while I was an art educator.

First, we read the book The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schaefer.  In the book, a class of young children are walking with their teacher through a park in a straight line.  One imaginative little girl picks up a red string and proceeds to imagine that it is everything from a dragon, to the moon, to the Great Wall of China.  In terms of art elements, it is a great way to introduce the concept of line.  After reading the book and talking about it, we became many types of lines with our bodies.  Some children worked with partners to become lines, and some chose to work alone.  Together we became wavy, diagonal, horizontal, vertical, scalloped, and many more.  

These students are working together to create a zig-zag line!

Here are some of the different lines we transformed our bodies into!

After engaging in the movement work of becoming lines, I explained the art portion of our class.  For each student I created a "squiggle" line.  As artists, their job was to transform this squiggle into something from their imagination, just as the little girl from the book used her imagination to transform the red string.  Well, I was blown away by the imaginations of the students, their art skills, and the difference between everyone's drawings!  If this first class is any indication, we will be able to do a lot of fantastic artwork this session in Mind Move Make!  Here are some examples of the different drawings: