julie jansen + mind move make : Becoming a Tree (K-2nd Grades)

Kindergarten artist

We begin every Mind Move Make class with two minutes of mindful breathing. Before the start of each class I have at least two students ask if they can be the mindfulness leader for the day. The students have embraced this role; they look forward to leading the rest of the class in our initial mindfulness practice. Hooray!

Before all of my lovely kindergarten through second grade students arrived for this class I put each child's painting on a yoga mat. When they entered the classroom I directed them to find their painting and take a seat. I asked the students to visualize the tree they created in an immense forest. We pretended to look up and see the branches of all the trees in our imaginary forest against the blue sky. I asked the students if the trees were separate or if they were all connected. We agreed that each tree is it's own separate entity, but that the branches of the trees overlap, touch, and connect in many ways.

I explained that tree roots are usually as wide if not wider than the span of their branches. In that way, the root system kind of echoes the shape of the tree underground. So in a dense forest, the roots of different trees criss-cross and overlap underground while the branches do the same thing in the sky. Usually the trunks of the trees remain separate, but the roots and the branches touch the other surrounding trees.

I asked each student to imagine him or herself as a tree in the forest. How are we separate from one another? How do we connect with others around us? The children were very responsive and interested in discussing this! We talked about how our words, feelings, and actions touch the people around us. One student described this in a wonderful way. She said that our feelings "bump up against" one another. Another student said that this reminded her of the idea of empathy. We agreed that we can each choose to put out positive actions, words, and feelings into the world, or we can choose to do the opposite.

After that I had each child stand in Tadasana with both feet firmly planted in the ground. We imagined becoming the trees we created. Our skin became rough like bark and our legs fused together into a trunk. Our arms became long, wide branches and we felt our fingers extend longer and longer into the sky. Hair became leaves. We imagined what types of animals lived in our branches. I asked, "What would it feel like to have a squirrel scurry up your trunk? What would it feel like if a bird built a nest in your hair?".

During the art part of our class, each student drew him or herself becoming a tree. Here are a few of the results!