 Holiday Healthy Mind Space Challenge
Gift Yourself 3 Minutes a Day in December Feeling stressed as we welcome December? Me too! A bustling holiday season is upon us. Our professional lives are ramped up as we tie up loose ends of 2018. And the energy of our kiddos is certainly heightened with the anticipation of holiday celebrations, gift exchange and family time. So, how can we keep our emotions, attention and presence in check? What if we tried 3 things, totaling just 3 minutes every day for 31 days...and we keep it simple? Would you be up for saving your sanity alongside me? Your 3 Gifts… AM Gift of Gratitude: Start each morning by writing 5 things you are grateful for. Don’t judge what you write, just write what comes to mind. Maybe it’s the laughter of your children or maybe it’s the coffee dripping into the pot. Whatever it is, welcome it and accept it. It came to your mind for a reason…;-) Midday Gift of Peace: Gift yourself 1 whole minute (or more!) of mindful breathing or mindful listening midday. For instance, each day when you sit down for lunch, take a deep breath, close your eyes and just feel your breath. Feel it in your chest. Feel it in your belly. Feel it in your nose. Or tune into the sounds around you. Gift yourself that one minute opportunity to “reset” and recharge. PM Gift of Love: End each day with an embrace with one you love-even if that is yourself. Share at least one reason why you love and appreciate the loved one. It sounds crazy, but so often we are too busy planning, looking ahead or looking behind that we miss what is right in front of us. Be intentional with the words in the moment. It may just help your body and mind rest a little more soundly. That’s it! Three minutes to a Holiday Healthy Mind Space over the 31 Beautiful Days of December. Share your experiences with the hashtag #holidayhms AM: Gratitude List Midday: Just Sit PM: Intentional Love
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 Rumor has it that it takes 30 days of consistent, focused behavior to create a habit. Our inspirational school leader loves to challenge us with new ideas. Tomorrow “The Principal’s 30 Day Challenge” begins. Our UPK classroom has chosen to be consistent with practicing whole group mindfulness for 3-5 minutes a day.
It is 10:45am and I grab my phone. After a handful of expectations and several prompts, the kids are ready for their first experience. I click on the Headspace App for Kids and choose “Focus” as our 3 minute mindful practice of the day. We close our eyes. “Andy” begins to walk us through a visualization journey with different animals of various sizes. Frogs, monkeys, chickens, elephants and fish make up the experience. “Mrs. N?” I peek through one eye and see a pair of brown eyes staring up at me on top of a big beautiful smile. I smile back, send the quiet signal, and gesture to close the eyes. “Shhh,” I hear from across the room. “Close your eyes!” another voice mumbles. “Hey, move into your space,” a whisper calls. I pause the mindful journey. It has been 23 seconds. Twenty-THREE!! Do I abandon and start over tomorrow or continue on? I mean, technically the challenge hasn’t started yet... Nope. Continue on we must. I take a deep breath to refocus, share a few reminders and then we close our eyes again. I hear rustling. It is coming from every angle. I take a look. Legs are moving, bodies are shifting, booties are scooting, heads are wobbling….only 2 minutes to go. We can make it. We really can! I pause to give a prompt and we start again. Once the lengthy stretch to the finish line was up, we took a minute to reflect. “What animals did you picture?” I asked. And the first answer to be shared is “A pink polar bear!” I chuckled and wrapped up Day "0's" session. It can only grow from here...haha! With love, Christy Lynn Lessons Learned by Day 2:
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I'm obsessed. This is fabulous. LOVE that you are doing this. The new way of being a student forces us to think outside the box and approach how we teach more dynamically. ~Derek, Father of 2 and Elementary School Principal
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Just a girl with a dream to collectively build a healthy mind space for children, while creating a healthier mind space for ourselves. 
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Healthy Mind Space offers mindfulness coaching and workshops to professional educators, preschools & childcare centers, and families throughout the Rochester, NY area. By practicing mindfulness in our everyday lives, and through intentional interactions in our classrooms, I believe we can help kids develop a greater capacity for kindness, compassion, positivity, self-confidence and the opportunity to achieve their full potential. |
