pos-ture Noun
It is mid-March and WOW are things ramping up at home and in the classroom. Talk about cabin fever!! I don’t blame them, as I think we are all feeling the need for sunshine, warmth and outdoor activity. Movement and exercise is essential to a healthy mind space. Fresh outdoor air is a natural relaxant for many of us, too. It is no wonder that those of us in the chilly U.S. are feeling the restless winter blues. If your home or classroom is anything like mine, you can feel the energy that is wound so tightly in the little bodies of our loved ones. They are ready to run free...but the weather just hasn’t quite cooperated for that yet. Rather we feel the energy level tides rise up high. And with all of that energy, despite the songs, dances, jumping jacks and mindful practices that we do, there is still so much zest that is left flowing; often uncontrollably. Because of this, it can come out sideways. Behaviors that are not typical for your kiddos will start to rear their ugly heads. As the teacher or parent mixed into the chaos, you may find yourself extinguishing mini fires all over the place due to these heightened emotions. Today was that day for me. Both at home and in the classroom. This is the day that I had to engage my best “POWER POSTURE.” The talking was continuous, the bodies were energized, and the self-help skills were MIA. Maybe your challenging day was yesterday or maybe it will come tomorrow. Whenever it is, know that there is help. And that help lies inside of you. It is your posture. This posture is two-fold. It is in the way that you physically hold your body while standing or sitting, how you carry yourself. It is also in how you approach or deal with a situation. Combine the two in a mindful way and you can survive without losing it! (I can speak from experience! haha) Tips to engage Power Posture on challenging days: Physical Posture: *stand upright *shoulders back, chin up *smile Posture of the Mind: *step away from the situation to avoid a knee-jerk reaction *take a few deep belly breaths and lengthen the exhale upon release *accept that this stressful moment is just that-a moment that can be released *reflect on how you’ve responded to such behaviors in the past and apply what you learned. Once your Power Posture is engaged, you can take on anything--even a roomful of energetic bunnies rustling around! And remember...this too shall pass. Stand tall, speak strong (yet calm) and be a role model for a mindful, caring response to a stressful situation. xo, Christy Lynn
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Universal Pre-Kindergarten Teacher: Do you like our mindful time? “Yes, because we get to close our eyes and my mind relaxes. I’m not worried about anything.” ~Boy, Age 5 “Yeah I like it when we lay down in a comfortable position. Sometimes when we lay down we think of silly things. My body feels rested afterwards. I can learn more that way.”~Girl, Age 5 “Yes, I like that you can lay down or sit up. I like the calming music (it’s like the music I do ballet with). It is quiet so it helps me relax. It helps my mind think of the ocean and feel good. Sometimes I dream.”~Girl, Age 4. The necessary hot topic right now relates to the epidemic of gun violence, particularly in schools. The NPR released an article called, Here’s How to Prevent the Next School Shooting, Experts Say which addresses taking a more “public health approach” within school settings. I have to agree with many of the points in the article; in particular cultivating a more positive, accepting and preventative school climate.
As a teacher of 12+ years, I can speak with validation to the daily experiences within a high-stress professional environment that we call school. It is often overlooked by the public. Not only are teachers responsible for researching and developing lesson plans that will ensure individualized academic growth to meet state and federal standards, engaging in and applying new skills learned in required professional development, managing student behavior and relationships, but we are also responsible for making student safety our number one priority. Without safety, nothing else can be accomplished. Safety comes in the form of verbal, emotional and physical safety. As hard as we may try to establish a culture of respect, responsibility, collaboration and kindness in our classroom, it all starts within the individual. Whether you are the staff member or the student, I believe that you must respect yourself, be kind to yourself and value yourself before positive, balanced relationships with others can be obtained. Questions for my peer educators-How well are you taking care of you? Do you take time to relax? EVERYDAY? To feel silly? To not feel so worried? To feel like you are at peace by the ocean? To dream? What the 4 and 5 year olds feel is possible for you, too. By lowering your own stress levels, think about the positive effect it can (and does) have on your kiddos. Carve out a few minutes for yourself each day. Zone out and just be one with you. Better yet, set a goal to start a little mindful time each day with your students. Do an inventory of how they feel or what they think about “mindfulness” before starting (Day 1) and then again after 30 days. I have no doubt that your findings would be astounding. Will it be perfect? Of course not. But I am confident that you will see growth in their positive mindsets. If a crazy Pre-Kindergarten day happens to go by and we forget “Mindful Time,” a child will remind us of that fact before the end of the day arrives. I am sharing this because I believe that this is so telling. The FACT that our youngest students can verbalize the importance of taking time to just BE confirms that we are establishing core qualities of balanced, kind and responsible minds of the future. This is what we need to model. This is what we need to teach. Once this is established and underway, positive relationships and experiences will naturally fall into place. Just walk into our room any day, and you will witness how these little people go out of their way to help one another and to make each other feel accepted. Self-care. Self-love. Friends, this could be the key to the prevention of violence in our schools and in our society. With love, Christy Lynn What if we all just loved to love. Take a moment to feel what that means. I’ve been doing that a lot over the past few week; thinking about what it means to love to love. Love myself. Love others. Love our universe. Unconditionally. My 2 year old minis inspired this week’s thinking. Earlier this week, I snuck into their room to awaken them before they were quite ready to start their days. I ruffled around for a minute and then heard a faint whisper. “Good morning, sissy.” “Good morning, mama.” “Hi baby.” And then she snuggled her baby lamb oh so tight. Mini B’s head wasn’t even off of the pillow. But the first thing that she did was welcome others into her day with love. Even though she had a pretty good fight with her sister the night before (they are determined toddlers right now!), which led her to time out with me, she had let that all go. Today was a new day. Children love a new day. They don’t drudge up the past. There is no worry or fear associated with the day ahead. The kiddos don't list out all of the things they have to tackle for the day. They just experience it. They are mindful of the present. I am constantly in awe of this. I understand that some is developmental, but I do believe that we all had this innate ability to just lead with love when we were younger. We still do. Life just often gets in the way. Can you imagine if we maintained even a portion of this ability to enter every situation with an open heart, an open mind; one without pre-judgements or expectations? As Mahatma Ghandi once said, “The Law of Love could best be understood and learned through little children.” This further confirms why my passion lies working with children, especially those under the age of 5. A day doesn't go by where I don't learn something from them and their intuitive drive to just be love. I encourage you to watch as they capitalize on their capacity to love this weekend. And then lets collectively do at least one thing to follow their example. That is how we can create mirrored magic. As we follow their example, they will follow ours and the love will then flow endlessly around us. With love, Christy Lynn P.S. I love that you took time to read this. ;-) It means the world. |
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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. Archives
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