Balance and Change (3rd-5th Grades)

 I'm excited to begin Session 2 of Mind Move Make with my smart, quirky, silly, fantastic 4th and 5th grade students!  During this session we'll be utilizing the mindfulness curriculum developed by the stellar organization Mindful Schools.  I've been participating in training with them, and I'm thrilled to put what I've learned into action with these lively young ladies (this group is all girls!).

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?  This is a question I posed to my students, though it is a difficult thing to put into words.  Mindfulness is noticing what is happening in the present moment.  If we are open to it and utilize it, mindfulness can help us in many ways.  It helps strengthen our minds, increase our ability to focus, manage our emotions, and make better decisions.  I described that this class will be an experiment, and the subject we are studying is our very own brains!  We'll be looking at how our minds work.

I gave the students lots of different scenarios to consider.  I asked, "Have you ever":

• Said something you wished you could take back?
• Done something you regretted later?
• Felt angry and out of control?
• Felt nervous about a test?
• Had trouble falling asleep?
• Accidentally spaced out when the teacher calls on you?   

Many of the students could relate to several or all of these situations.  I was impressed by how willing they were to share personal stories about specific events in which they experienced one or many of these things.  Everyone felt encouraged and relieved to know that they were not the "only ones" to feel these emotions or have these things happen.

After the discussion, I explained that mindfulness can help with this, but that they would have to truly try it!  We spent two minutes practicing mindful breathing using an anchor spot, a spot in the body where the breath is felt (usually the belly or chest).  I explained our anchor spot is like the anchor of a ship, connecting us to our breath and our body.  After spending two minutes practicing mindful breathing, several students said they wanted to spend more time doing this!  One student said she was so busy in her life that she didn't have time to think about her breath, or take time for herself in this way.  I am extremely happy to provide these amazing girls with the chance to slow down and just breath, even if it is just once a week!

After that, I introduced everyone to our central idea; the big, main concept we will focus on over the course Session 2.  Here it is!

We live in a world that is constantly changing

Over the next 11 classes, we will explore the idea of change in art, in our minds, and in our bodies through movement.  Exciting stuff!

Then I introduced them to the artist Michael Grab; he calls his work "Gravity Glue".  Michael travels to many different places and creates sculptures made of rocks!  He uses the power of gravity to balance these sculptures.  Here is a link to a video of him at work.  After watching part of the video, we talked about if his sculptures are permanent or impermanent.  We also discussed how balance plays a hand in his work.

Then we worked on using balance with our own bodies!  The girls worked in partners to balance in many different yoga poses.  Here are a few pictures of them in action!