Emotions

In mindfulness practice it is important to notice feelings.  I try to remind students to check in with how they are feeling several times throughout class.  At the beginning of one class I asked each student to use one word to describe how he or she was feeling at that time.  Most students found it very difficult to use only one word.  They had a story to go along with their feelings and most wanted to share that story.  One boy talked about being angry with something that happened during a kickball game at recess.  Another girl said she was happy because she was with our Mind Move Make group and it only happens once a week.  Two girls identified that they were not happy and not sad, just "normal".  It is very beneficial to check in and notice emotions because this is part of what makes up our present moment existence.  It also allows us awareness of how quickly our emotional state can change throughout the day and the impermanent nature of our emotions.  All of this helps to build emotional intelligence.

After warming up the body with some stretches and a few Down Dogs, I introduced the students to three of the Warrior poses.  We discussed how in yoga the warrior is not necessarily about fighting, but about finding your best self.  We moved through Warrior 1, Warrior 2, and Peaceful Warrior (or Reverse Warrior).  As we moved into Warrior 1 I had the students repeat, "I am strong!"  For Warrior 2 they said, "I am powerful!"  And for Peaceful Warrior they said, "I am kind and peaceful!" which was a great place to end our movement practice.

During the art part of our class, the students practiced figure drawing in their sketchbooks.  We talked about proportion, or size relationships between different parts of the body.  While standing, I asked the students to feel the size of their neck compared to their head, to feel their shoulders and how wide they are, to feel where their arms hit on their legs to think about how long their arms are.  Our hips are just about the midpoint of our bodies, so the legs are almost half of our height!  I provided students with some visuals with examples of figure drawing in relation to proportion.  I also brought in my wooden figure model which bends into all kinds of movement-oriented positions so the students could see proportion and movement in 3D.

I explained to the students that today we were practicing figure drawing in our sketchbooks, but this practice was leading to drawing themselves as an Everyday Superhero!  The students will be inventing themselves as an Everyday Superhero character.  Stay tuned to see what happens! 

Inner Superpower

Third Grade Artist
Inner Superpower: Caring and Art

During our previous classes, Mind Move Make students focused on individuals in the community that they consider Everyday Superheroes.  They reflected on how many people help them in their lives.  Each student then gave particular attention to one special person, celebrating their awesomeness by creating a postcard for that person.  Here is one student in a photo with his Everyday Superhero, his Grandmother.  She is holding the postcard he designed for her:

Kindergarten artist with his Everyday Superhero, his Grandmother

Currently the students are turning inward and contemplating how THEY are Everyday Superheroes.  They started this reflection by thinking about all the Inner Superpowers that exist inside of them.  I asked them to make a mental list of all the things that make them special, and also to reflect on how these gifts help them and help others around them.  I shared a few of the Inner Superpowers that I have: Creativity, Appreciation of Beauty, and Good Listening Skills.

The students also reflected on their hands as one of the main ways humans perform actions in the world.  They focused on their hands by rubbing them together and feeling the warmth and heat generated.  Then they brought all of that warmth to their hearts and thought about their Inner Superpowers.

During the movement part of class the students imagined they were Everyday Superheroes, first pretending to get dressed in their Superhero costumes.  With Halloween around the corner, this was a big hit!  Even Superheroes need to stretch, so the first few minutes of movement were devoted to stretching.  Then, using their Super Sight, the students pretended to noticed a cat stuck in a tree and a dolphin caught in a fishing net.  The students maneuvered through many different yoga poses to save both the dolphin and the cat.  After saving the dolphin, everyone ended up on a beautiful, imaginary sand-covered beach to relax in Savasana.  Because even Superheroes need to relax!

Art-wise, the students used the shape of their hands as a starting point to create their latest art pieces.  They wrote one or more of their Inner Superpowers on the shape of their hand and created detailed designs and patterns all around the hand and in their backgrounds.  I introduced the art concepts of warm and cool colors to the students.  They chose to add either warm or cool colors to their hand, and the opposite combination to their backgrounds.  Here are the finished Inner Superpower hand creations!

Alameda Artists:

Third Grade Artist
Inner Superpower: Kindness

Second Grade Artist
Inner Superpower: Humor

Kindergarten Artist
Inner Superpower: Mindful

Second Grade Artist
Inner Superpower: Helpful

Kindergarten Artist
Inner Superpower: Creative

First Grade Artist
Inner Superpower: Kind

The International School Artists:

Second Grade Artsit

Inner Superpower: Multiple Ideas!

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Kindness

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Love

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Invisability

Fourth Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: O.K. With It-nes

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Scary (inspired by Halloween I think!)

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Kindness

Kindergarten Artist

Inner Superpower: Thinking

Fourth Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Nature

Second Grade Artist

Inner Superpower: Respectful

Kindergarten Artist

Inner Superpower: Helpful

Sending Kind Thoughts to our Everyday Superheroes

This Kindergarten artist chose his Grandma as his Everyday
Superhero!  He talked about how she saves "treasure"
for him at her house, and how she is making him a
Halloween costume this year.

Each Mind Move Make class is packed with loads of different activities, and all of them blend into one another!  In the Mindfulness part of the class we've been slowing down and focusing on the present moment in many different ways.  During each class I select a Mindful Leader to conduct our Mindful Breathing practice.  For most of the classes we've used a Breathing Ball, or Hoberman Sphere.  After I demonstrated using the Breathing Ball during the first class, the students have been leading one another in mindful breathing by expanding and contracting the ball.  The students have also found their pulses or put hands on their hearts and counted heartbeats to find calm and focus.  It is amazingly beautiful how silent the room becomes when everyone is counting their heartbeats.

During another class the students sent kind thoughts to the person they chose as their Everyday Superhero.  Each student found a very comfortable position, either sitting or laying down, and I said these Heartful phrases while they repeated them in their minds and thought about the special individual they selected:

May you be safe and protected.

May you be healthy.

May you be loved.

May you be happy.

May you live in peace.

I allowed the students time and space to think about their own, personal kind wishes that they wanted to send to their Everyday Superhero.

In the art realm of the class, students experimented with using markers, then brushing water on top of the marker with a paintbrush.  The paper I gave the students to create their Everyday Superhero postcards is high-quality watercolor paper.  When water is brushed onto the marker, the pigment of the marker looks and acts like watercolor paint.  The students were surprised and excited by the results of this experimentation.  During our next class, many students told me that they tried this fun technique at home with their own markers.

A stamp was created for the back of their postcard, just like a real postage stamp.   The children wrote a message to their Everyday Superhero explaining why they are grateful to them.  The students range in age between 5 years and 10 years, so there is a large variation in skill and ability when it comes to writing.  I supplied the younger students with a prompt sheet to use and glue on the back of their postcard to write their message.  Some of the TIS students wrote their note in their target language as each child is learning either Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese.  Many of the children used their own words to express their gratitude and appreciation for their Everyday Superhero.  

Here are the fronts and backs of many of the postcards.  I had the postcards lined up on the floor so that the parents could see all of the unique, fantastic drawings.  One parent commented, "I would buy many of these postcards and send them myself!"  So would I; they are beautiful.

From TIS:

From Alameda: