Humans can choose to cultivate kindness to make the world a better place.
Then I asked the children to share an act of kindness that they either witnessed or performed over the holidays. I encouraged them to think about an action taken rather than focusing on a gift they were given. Several students talked about putting time and care into homemade gifts for loved ones. For example, one student told us he worked really hard to create a deck of hand-drawn playing cards for his father. Another student shared that she gave her mother a hug at a time when her mother really needed it. It was interesting to hear the students recount acts of kindness that they either observed or performed.
During our relaxation time, I dimmed the lights and allowed the students to concentrate on their own breath rather than sharing a guided meditation. After reading more about mindfulness and doing some research into neuroscience, it is important to give this space to cleanse the brain through focusing on a single object or sense (touch, taste, hearing, sight, smell). In our case, we focused on the breath. I've heard meditation referred to by the Hawn Foundation as "brain brushing," similar to teeth brushing but for mental health instead of dental health. If everyone made "brain brushing" a part of the daily routine, I believe we'd all be happier and healthier in every sense!
After that it was time to begin the movement portion of our class. We started by doing Sufi rolls, a different way of warming up the vertebrae by remaining in a seated position and rotating around our center of gravity. After that we went through two Surya Namaskar A sequences. I also taught the children how to do Lion's Breath, which was really fun. Here is a funny video of many different people performing Lion's Breath, if you're curious to find out what that is! Lion's Breath is a great way to release tension in the face and throughout the entire body. And you get to make a silly face, which is an added bonus!
For the art part of our class we experimented with different watercolor techniques to build the background for our Kindness Action Ideas artwork. The techniques we worked with were salt, resist, pigment lift, wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and dry brush. The students had a lot of fun exploring all of these techniques on their watercolor paper!
Here are pictures of the student's watercolor works so far:
During our relaxation time, I dimmed the lights and allowed the students to concentrate on their own breath rather than sharing a guided meditation. After reading more about mindfulness and doing some research into neuroscience, it is important to give this space to cleanse the brain through focusing on a single object or sense (touch, taste, hearing, sight, smell). In our case, we focused on the breath. I've heard meditation referred to by the Hawn Foundation as "brain brushing," similar to teeth brushing but for mental health instead of dental health. If everyone made "brain brushing" a part of the daily routine, I believe we'd all be happier and healthier in every sense!
After that it was time to begin the movement portion of our class. We started by doing Sufi rolls, a different way of warming up the vertebrae by remaining in a seated position and rotating around our center of gravity. After that we went through two Surya Namaskar A sequences. I also taught the children how to do Lion's Breath, which was really fun. Here is a funny video of many different people performing Lion's Breath, if you're curious to find out what that is! Lion's Breath is a great way to release tension in the face and throughout the entire body. And you get to make a silly face, which is an added bonus!
For the art part of our class we experimented with different watercolor techniques to build the background for our Kindness Action Ideas artwork. The techniques we worked with were salt, resist, pigment lift, wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and dry brush. The students had a lot of fun exploring all of these techniques on their watercolor paper!
Here are pictures of the student's watercolor works so far:
