Strength

STRENGTH: "What does it meant to you to be strong?" I asked the students in Mind Move Make classes.  There were many fantastic responses.  We talked about physical, mental, and emotional strength, and I gave them an example of each type of strength from my own life.   During our discussion of emotional strength, a student named Isabel compared feeling emotionally strong to when cartoon characters feel something so intensely that there is a burst of color or a visual representation of the emotion.  I love that image.

The students learned three physical motions to describe each type of strength.  For physical strength we made muscles with our arms, for mental strength we pointed to our brains, and for emotional strength we crossed our hands over our hearts.  Then we read a book called Super Manny Stands Up! by Kelly DiPucchio.  I asked the students to identify when Manny, the main character, showed the three different types of strength by silently making the gestures I taught them.  The book tells the story of a boy who has a very large imagination and a collection of many different colored capes.  He takes on a new superhero persona when wearing each different colored cape.  At school he wears his "invisible cape" but remaines a superhero throughout the day.  During lunch, a bully is picking on a child who is much smaller than he is.  At first Manny is too scared to do anything, but he ends up telling the bully to stop even though it is difficult.  His emotional strength inspires courage in many of the student around him, and they all stand up to the bully.  In the end, Manny becomes good friends with the child he defends from the bully.  Mind Move Make students were excellent at identifying the times Manny showed the three different types of strength; I was impressed by their recognition and their explanations for how Manny was showing strength.  The book really helped them understand the idea of strength in a more robust way.

After discussing the book a bit after reading it, we settled down and engaged on a more direct mindfulness experience.  The students had the opportunity to lay on their backs in a circle.  I invited each student to place one hand on their heart and one hand on their stomach.  After taking three deep, delicious breaths I asked three questions, giving space between each so that the students had time to answer within their own minds.  I asked, "What have you done recently that made you feel strong?  Can you figure out if you were showing physical, mental, or emotional strength?  Who is a person in your life that shows strength?"

Then I gave my students their treasure to symbolize strength.  Over the corse of several outings I collected many different rocks, with the help of my two children.  I placed all the rocks in the center of our circle and gave each student the chance to choose the rock that spoke most to them.  They were very excited to select their own rock!  Then we held our rocks while breathing in and out and           focusing on our times of strength.

Yoga is a wonderful practice for building all three areas strength.  Together we practiced many poses that strengthen the body.  Upon moving into each pose we recited a different phrase that Manny would chant in the book.  Some of the phrases are, "I am strong!  I am powerful!  I am peaceful!"  Then I had students share their own phrases that make them feel strong and confident.  It was beautiful to hear them saying these words of strength out loud, and to see how much they embodied the words through their physical stature and the smiles on their faces.

During the art part of our class today, each student brainstormed ideas for their symbol of strength in their sketchbooks.  Here are a few examples of what they came up with:

Happiness

HAPPINESS: What makes you feel happy, joyful, playful?  These were the questions Mind Move Make students focused on during two classes for Session 3.  Happiness was the first idea we worked with; there will be four ideas in total.  We are collecting four objects in a bag created by the students, and each object will represent the idea that we are currently looking at.  It is important to recognize the things we do in life that bring happiness so that we can observe and celebrate these experiences.  From a neuroscience perspective, our brains are hard-wired to notice the negative things that happen.  Focusing on happiness can work to change the neural pathways of our brains so that we see clearly the joy that exists in life.

Sitting in a circle during the beginning of our class together, I asked the students to close their eyes and find their mindful bodies.  When everyone was ready,  I placed a special object into each child's open palm.  The object was a smooth, clear glass stone.  Before opening their eyes I asked them to explore the object using only their sense of touch, then they could open their eyes and really look at it.  We had a discussion about happiness and I asked them to call to mind what brought them happiness.  After talking about and sharing a few things that bring joy to the students, I asked them to close their eyes and put all their happiest thoughts, ideas, and memories into the stone.  We focused on our breathing as we explored happiness in our own minds.

During the movement part of our class, the students spent time bouncing and shaking in all sorts of ways focusing on bringing energy into the body.  After some boisterous movement paired with cat/cow and down dog I asked the students to come into their favorite yoga pose and focus on why they like this pose.

Art-wise, I explained to the students that they would develop a symbol for themselves that represented happiness.  This class was devoted to brainstorming images that could become this symbol.  I asked them to think about the actions, people, and places that bring them joy and perhaps transform one of these into their symbol.  As usual, the students surprised me with their creativity.

A second grader's bag with her happiness stone sitting inside.

This fourth grader's ideas of happiness involve music, nature, and sunshine.

This Kindergartner is happy in nature.

A Handful of Quiet

Welcome to Mind Move Make, Session 3!  My inspiration for this session came from the book A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles by Thich Nhat Hanh.  The book is based on a retreat that Thich Nhat Hanh lead for children; during the retreat he had the children find four pebbles, and each pebble represented a different idea.  The pebbles were placed in a tiny pouch that the children sewed themselves; the pebbles served as reminders of the ideas they talked about during the retreat and of their time together.

During our first class of Session 3 I explained to the students that throughout the course of our time together I would be giving them four treasures.  Each treasure would mean something different.  Today they would be creating the bag in which to keep their treasures.

Before we started crafting the fabric container for our special objects, we played a game to get to know everyone's names and to move our bodies in new and different ways!  I asked the students to figure out how many syllables are in their own name.  We went around the circle and clapped out the syllables for each child's name.  Then everyone stood up in a circle and each student developed a movement for the syllables in his or her name.  I started us off by creating a movement for each syllable in JULIE, and then the students took over!  It was fun to see movements matching the personalities of the students who developed them.

I knew the fabric bag would take the majority of the class to create, so I demonstrated the sewing and told the students they were to create the most beautiful container they could to house the four special objects that I would give them.  There were so many variations in the designs they drew onto the 8" circular piece of fabric.  When it came to the sewing part of the project I encouraged the older students to help the Kindergarteners and the children who had never sewn before.  So many of the kids were willing and excited to help the others who needed it.  Many of the students have been in my class for multiple sessions, and we have built a strong community.  I saw that community in action during this project.

Here are some pictures of students at work along with some of the finished bags!