Kindness Action Ideas

A student playing our singing bowl

To begin this class I gave the Mind Move Make students a chance to share one or more of their Kindness Action Ideas with the other members of our group.  I explained that these actions should be things that they can accomplish in their lives.  A boy in the class raised his hand and asked if he could talk about actions he and his sister are already taking to make the world a better place.  He explained that they donate part of their allowance to a charity of their choice.  His sister donates her allowance to help children who have been impacted by the Ebola epidemic.

Other Action Ideas students mentioned included cheering up friends and family members when they are sad.  This is an action all of us can take in our lives, and it is an important one.  Showing compassion and empathy toward others is valuable and appreciated by people of all ages.

Two girls in our class talked about helping homeless people as an action idea.  I asked them to elaborate on what specific actions they could take to do this, and they didn't have any ideas.  Another girl in the class shared that she has done several things to help the homeless.  She said she once left a loaf of banana bread for one homeless person she sees often.

After this discussion it was time for relaxation.  It is interesting how when we first started engaging in relaxation, many of the students were restless and talkative.  Now most of them sit or lay down on their yoga mats in a comfortable position and take advantage of this valuable time to reconnect to the body and the breath.  I always start by reminding the students to actively think about their breathing.  Then I play the singing bowl for them as they settle into this part of the class.  For the past couple classes I've told them a story, very similar to a guided meditation.  I took a poll of our class members to see if they like the story-oriented guided meditation best, or quietly contemplating their own breath.  Almost everyone voted that they enjoy the story paired with relaxation best.  I'll include the story from this session at the end of the post.

During part of our movement activity I introduced the students to Drinking Birds, a different type of Vinyasa experience.  The students started low to the ground in Chair Pose with their arms swung behind their backs, then they lifted up to standing with their arms above their heads.  We repeated this motion many times.  We also added a pause in Chair Pose with their arms behind their backs and balancing on their toes.  This collection of movements feels a little like flying, and when we finished all the students had smiles on their faces and many were laughing!

For the past several classes we've ended the movement portion of the class with Bhramari, or Bee Breath.  Making a humming sound, the room seems as if it is full of tiny bees!  This is a great way for the students to connect to their breath one last time at the end of our movement work.

Art-wise we had several things to complete!  The ceramic pieces we created during the first class were fired and ready for paint.  Many thanks to Sarah Harpole, the TIS Art Specialist, for firing our ceramic artwork in the kiln!  I decided to try a new technique with the clay artworks; we used  metallic watercolor paints to add color.  The metallics worked best with the pieces that had a lot of texture.  The pigmented golds and silvers settled into the recessed places in the clay and accentuated the textured areas.  The children were excited to take these works home as gifts for family members for the holidays.

This student created a ceramic sculpture of herself with her baby brother

Many students also had to finish their hand drawings from the previous class.  We also used high-quality watercolor paper and prepared the paper for paint during our next session.  The students created a composition using tape in the background of their paper.  After the paint has been applied, we will remove the tape.  The design created with the tape will remain as fields of white with color all around.  In these white areas the students will write their Kindness Action Ideas.  I'm excited to see the artworks when they are completed!

One student using tape to mask the paper so that that portion remains white when we paint with watercolors

Here is the guided meditation story from this class:
Imagine you are walking along a path and you come across the most beautiful lake you’ve ever seen.  The water is any color you can imagine it to be.  Slowly you take off your shoes and feel the sun-warmed ground under your feet.  You step to the edge of the lake and jump in!  Once you are underwater, you discover you can breath!  Feel the water all around you as you swim without worrying about coming up for oxygen.  After a while you come upon the most interesting fish you’ve ever encountered!  What does your fish look like?  You and the fish silently swim along together.  After a while you hear your mom calling you from the edge of the lake, so you know its time to return.  You slowly swim back to the surface, to the edge of the lake and get out of the water.