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: