Four Mindfulness Tips for a Calmer Classroom in 2022

Happy 2022!

Did you make New Year's resolutions this month?  After making the same ones year after year - and not managing to keep them - I decided to try something different.
Here are my resolutions for this year:  To choose joy, to be of service, and to take action towards my goals.

To choose joy, I've been using a gratitude practice of thinking of three good things in my life as soon as I wake up in the morning.  What a helpful way to start the day with a positive attitude!  ​

I've been practicing several other mindfulness exercises daily over the past year, and they have really helped me to take more control over how I think, feel and act.  Research shows mindfulness can help all of us, both children and adults, to develop our capacity for self-regulation. It helps to lengthen the sliver of time between when something triggers us and our reaction to it.  In that tiny moment, we can choose to calm ourselves and respond in an intentional way.
How much calmer our classrooms - and our lives - would be if we could all do this all the time!  (Don't worry, none of us can, but it's a good goal to strive for!)

Check out my previous blog post on mindfulness activities for children.  Remember that we need to teach these strategies when children are calm and provide lots of opportunities for practice.  Eventually children will be able to practice mindfulness themselves when they are upset.  What a valuable skill for life-long self-regulation - and for a calmer classroom in the meantime!

Here are four more mindfulness activities to help you to cultivate calmness in your classroom or home life.  Please share your own as well - let's support one another as we strive for a better 2022!

1.  Breathing Square
Taking a series of slow, deep "belly breaths" helps calm the fight or flight stress response for children - and adults, too!
In this exercise, children learn to hold their breath after inhaling and exhaling.  Teach children to use the breathing square when they are calm, and encourage them to practice it often.  (Transitions are a great time for calming!)
​Post a breathing square in the calming center in your classroom. Then the next time someone gets upset, encourage him or her to use it (or another of their favorite calming exercises). Eventually your children will have lots of ways to calm down, and will do it more often without your help!

2.  Mindfulness 5-4-3-2-1
Help children notice what their senses are taking in.  Have them sit quietly and focus on one sense at a time.  Even when they are not eating or drinking anything, they can learn to notice what’s in their mouths!
You can teach this activity either individually or in groups.  Simply remind children first to breathe slowly and deeply.  Then slowly guide them through noticing:

• 5 things they can see 
• 4 things they can touch 
• 3 things they can hear 
• 2 things they can smell 
• 1 thing they can taste

If everyone participates in this as a group activity, there will be an immediate difference in the calmness of your classroom!

3. High Five Breathing
Show and tell the children what to do:

• Hold up one hand with all the fingers outstretched
• Trace around your hand while taking slow belly breaths:
• Starting with your pinkie finger, inhale while tracing your finger from bottom to top of their pinkie
• Briefly pause and hold your breath when your finger reaches the top of your pinkie
• Exhale as you trace your finger down the other side of their pinkie.
• Repeat with the other fingers and your thumb.  

Children should feel calmer and more relaxed after this exercise.  If you do it with them, you should, too!


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4.  Mindfulness Walk
When you can, step out of the classroom for a while. Research shows that nature has a calming effect on your brain! 
Here's how to take a mindfulness walk:  Engage your five senses to bring  awareness to your surroundings. You can also be mindful of the sensations in your body as well.  As you walk, ask the children these questions, pausing long enough for them to think of the answers.  For a quiet activity, tell them just to think, not tell!

• How do your legs, feet and arms feel?
• What do you see?
• What do you hear?
• What do you smell?
• Can you taste anything?

Add these four mindfulness activities to your repertoire, and please share your favorites with us.
​We at ECS are wishing you a happy, healthy, and calmer 2022!