Mindfulness Techniques
By Alexandra Hassel
Throughout the next couple pages will be instructions and walk-through
explanations of all the mindful activities I have introduced to my students in Grade
3. Before each strategy I ask students what zone they are in, green, yellow, blue,
red. I then introduce the strategy and walk them through it. Following the mindful
activity, I ask students what zone they feel they are in now, as well as how they
can use this themselves.
1.) Belly Breathing.
Students will be learning how to take deep breaths that fill their lungs, the
purpose of this activity is to help students relax and regulate and possibly
find themselves back in the green zone.
- Ask students to find a spot on the floor where they can comfortably
lay down.
- Have students bring an object that they can place on their belly, this
can be a stuffy, an eraser, a rock, anything that will lay comfortably
on their stomach.
- Ask students to place their object on their stomach, and then take a
deep breath in, ask
“did your shoulders rise as you took a deep breath?” If so, We need to
fix that, when taking a deep breath only your stomach should move,
filling with air.
- Now I want you to take a deep breath in and fill your stomach with air
so that the object on your tummy rises with your tummy, slowly.
- Now take a deep breath out, watch your object go down with your
tummy.
- Repeat this for a couple breaths! I like to play relaxing music as well.
Resources
Belly Breathing Follow Along
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMb2Bw4Ae8
Relaxing Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVj3OZRUjcM
Reflection – This went very well. Students were very relaxed during the
whole activity. I asked students what zone they were in to start and they
most were in blue or yellow, some in green. However, after the activity, I
retook the vote and the students were almost all in the green zone. I asked
students if they thought they could use this strategy on their own and most
of them said yes. I will try to see if I can keep students accountable and
when I feel like students may be in the yellow zone, blue or red I can
suggest this. About a week later, I asked students if they had used belly
breathing on their own and most of them had.
2.) Mindful Coloring
Mindful coloring is a mindfulness activity that allows students to focus on
the present moment and push any worries about the past or future away. To
begin this activity, I ask students how they normally feel when they are
coloring, words such as “calm, peaceful and concentrated” come up.
Mindful coloring is an activity where students are encouraged to focus
specifically on the way their crayon/pencil is moving, the exact color they
are using and why. By encouraging students to focus on one thing at a time
allows them to bring their body and mind to the present moment. It helps us
bring awareness to what we are doing and why.
Mindful coloring is best done when a teacher or mediator can guide students.
I acted as this person. I first allowed students to pick a coloring page from
a variety of ones I had printed (I found so many options online, simply by
searching “Mindful Mandala Coloring for Kids”)
I then turned on a relaxing aquarium musical video from YouTube (linked
below) This video really set the tone for the activity.
As we moved through the activity I was moving around the classroom and
guiding students. Phrases I used were
“Think about what colour you are using and why?”
“How does the pencil crayon feel in your hand?”
How does it feel as you color one certain part of the page”?
“Can you focus on one part of the page?”
I would constantly encourage students to not worry about things like
- How it looks
- Making a mistake
- How long it may take you to finish
- Rushing
- what is coming up later today
This activity was a huge success
After surveying students after, all students had moved to the green zone
which was great! I find students asking me to do mindful coloring even weeks
later.
3.) Body Scan
This activity was VERY effective for most students. I took my students to our
library, turned off all the lights and asked students to find a spot where they were
not distracted by other friends. I found these instructions I found online.
1) Lie down on your back. Let your legs and your arms relax and fall to the sides. Settle
yourself in a comfort-able position and close your eyes.
2) Start by taking two or three gentle, large breaths. Pay attention to how that feels.
Your belly rises and falls. Air moves in and out of your body. If you like, place a hand on
your belly and feel it move with each breath.
3) Now we’re going to pay attention to the other parts of the body. Start with your
feet. They might feel warm or cold, wet or dry, relaxed or restless. It’s also okay if you
feel nothing at all. If you can, relax your feet now. If that’s hard to do, that’s fine. Take a
moment and notice how that feels too.
4) For these few minutes, let yourself be still. There’s nothing to do. Pay attention as
best you can. You might feel a blanket or socks on your feet, or you might feel them
pressing against the bed or the floor. When your mind gets busy, gently bring your
attention back to your feet again.
5) Now move your attention to your lower legs, noticing whatever is there. Do they
feel heavy, light, warm, cold, or something else? Let go of frustration and trying to do
anything. Just do your best and give yourself a few moments of rest.
Next, move your attention next to your knees and relax them. Feel the front, back, and
sides of your knees.
6) After a few more breaths, move your attention to your upper legs. Whatever you
feel, or don’t feel, is fine. Notice your legs and let them relax. If you feel restless or
wiggly, that’s okay too. That happens.
7) Now move your attention to your belly. It always moves when you breathe, rising and
falling, like waves on the sea. You might feel something on the inside, like full or hungry.
You might notice the touch of your clothing or a blanket. You might even feel emotions in
your belly, like happy or sad or upset.
If you feel that it’s hard to focus, that’s normal. Gently practice coming back again
and again to how your chest feels when you breathe.
8) Next, bring your attention to your chest. Notice it rising and falling as you breathe.
If you feel that it’s hard to focus, that’s normal. Gently practice coming back again and
again to how your chest feels when you breathe.
9) Now turn your attention to your hands. There is no need to move them or do anything
with them. They may be touching the bed, or the floor, or somewhere on your body. Relax
them if you can, and if not, simply paying attention to your hands for another moment.
10) Move your attention up into your arms. M aybe notice if you can find a moment of
stillness inside you, like the pause at the end of each breath.
11) Next, move your attention around to your back. How does it feel against the bed or
the floor? Notice how it rocks with each breath. When your mind gets busy or angry or
scared, you can always come back to how your body feels in this way for a moment.
12) Now move attention to your neck and shoulders, letting go and relaxing them. If
your mind wanders, that’s fine. No one can pay attention all the time. Just keep returning
to noticing your body whenever you find yourself thinking of something else.
13) And now feel your face and head. What expression do you have right now? What
would it feel like to smile? What else do you notice in your face, your head, and in your
mind?
14) Finally, spend a few moments, paying attention to your whole body. If it is easier,
continue to pay attention to your breath. If it’s time for sleep, let that happen, remaining
still and continuing to pay attention to your breath or feelings in your body. And if it’s time
to wake up, open your eyes and sit for a few moments before deciding when to move again.
Reflection
I found that this was very effective. Students really enjoyed it for the most part. I did
find that some students were not focused and did fool around with their friends. However
some students really benefited from this and came up to me after and thanked me for
leading this exercise. Some students did this exercise sitting or laying on their back,
whatever worked best for them.
Resource for Script https://www.mindful.org/body-scan-kids/
4.) Mountain Rising Reset
This resource is one that I found in a task card set from a professional development
session I attendedI found this technique very helpful as it had students moving and
stretching their bodies if they chose to. I found students were less fidgety after this
activity and enjoyed the breathing and stretching activity. I followed this script very
closely and had students doing it seated and standing. We went through it twice. I will
attach the script and resource I followed below. This exercise was helpful for students'
bodies, not just their minds.
5.) Mindful Sit Spot.
This technique is one that my teacher mentor introduced to me and led our
class through. This was the first mindful activity we participated in.
To engage in a mindful sit spot, you need to find a spot outside where
students can sit peacefully, spread out on the ground or a set of benches. As
I took students to our sit spot, which was a spot on a hill, with a view of the
mountains.
I gathered them in a circle and asked them which zone they were in. This
particular day we had a lot of roofing noises affecting our learning and
classroom, so a lot of students were in the yellow or red zone. We also began
talking about how our environment outside can help us and how we can be
mindful about it.
It is important when engaging in a mindful sit spot to have a discussion about
what it looks like.
Mindful sit spots look like…
- Taking deep breath of fresh air,
- Appreciating your surroundings
- Using your 5 senses to understand what you see, hear, smell and can
touch.
- Having 6 feet or more between me and my peers.
- Realizing How YOU feel in the moment
I then had students spread out in a certain set of boundaries. We set a 10 minute
timer and did this activity myself. It was so beneficial and I saw a huge difference
in the students' regulation following the sit spot.
6.) 5,4,3,2,1.
5,4,3,2,1 is an activity in which students acknowledge the present moment and
what is surrounding them. Students need to identify
- 5 things they can see
- 4 things they can feel
- 3 things they can hear
- 2 things they can smell
- 1 positive thing about themselves.
This activity really allows students to be present in the moment, to push any
worries about the past or future out of their mind and focus on these 5 things for
now. To give students an example, I wrote down one thing I could see, feel, hear,
smell to give them an idea about what it should look like.
I can see a white board marker, I can feel my shirt against my arms, I can hear
students whispering, I can smell wet socks from recess, I am a kind person.
I found a good visual to represent this strategy that I displayed for students. I
found students really enjoyed this activity. It had them think but also calmed them
down by only focusing on a certain 5 things.
As the printout says, I asked students to take a couple breaths beforehand as well.
7.) Pick a Color.
This mindfulness activity was a little harder for students, but I think they did enjoy it.
This activity asks students to take 2 deep breaths and then choose a color. Any color.
Students then need to find and write down 10 things that they see in the classroom that
are that color, similar to 5,4,3,2,1 this encourages students to focus on their surroundings
and what is going on in that moment.
I started this activity by asking students if they ever find themselves worrying about
things that have happened in the future or about things that have happened in the past.
Lots of students raised their hands. I mentioned to students this activity is a time when
we can put those worries outside of our minds and focus on the task at hand.
8.) 5 Finger Breathing
5 Finger breathing is an exercise I introduce to students for them to use, possibly when
in the yellow or red zone. This exercise uses a breathing technique to help move students
from these harsher zones to a more relaxed and calm zone.
To introduce the activity, ask students,
“Do you ever get nervous or stressed?”
If so, what do you do to help you overcome this feeling?
This is a technique students can use when they do have this feeling.
Ask students to take a deep breath, set the mood by turning the lights off.
Students pick either their right or left hand to complete this excerise.
Start with your thumb.
Students trace their hands breathing in and out. Breathe in as they trace up and breathe
out as they trace down.
Continue this technique until students get to their pinky. Then reverse and go backwards
doing the same thing.
Here is a visual below I like to use for students to see the pace in which they should be
breathing. There is also a visual to have up in the classroom to remind students of the
excersise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FYeInOJEDk
9.) Guided Imagery
This technique was very beneficial for students as well. Although this did move a lot of
students to the green zone, it almost relaxed them so much they stated they had moved to
the blue zone and became slightly tired!
This technique has students create an image in their minds based on the instructions and
prompts given in the video. This specific guided video had students creating images of a
treehouse.
To begin I instructed students to put their heads down (if they were comfortable), and
close their eyes, while listening to the prompts.
The video lasts about 15 minutes, it includes times of breathing and silence to encourage
reflection. I found this beneficial because it allowed students to push all the worries, or
concerns that were currently filling their minds, by focusing and trying to create certain
images within their imagination. Students would direct focus to these images instead of
possible thoughts that were putting them in the yellow,blue or red zone.
Following the guided imagery, I asked students to share, again if they were comfortable,
what their treehouse looked like.
Here is the link we used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOHcGF1Tmc&t=634s
** An important thing to mention to students is that this can be a difficult thing to do.
Not everyone will be able to imagine or create pictures within their minds and that this
does take practice.
10.) Hoberman Sphere Breathing
This technique is one that is similar to box breathing or rainbow breathing. It helps
students focus on their breathing and bring them back to the green zone. I started this
lesson by asking if students have ever been stressed or very angry or if sometimes their
breathing becomes faster. Most students stated they had once felt this way before.
I then showed students pictures of what a hoberman sphere looked like. (if you have one in
your class this is even better, however I was not able to access one.)
This technique involves students breathing with the movement of the sphere. I used a
follow along video to guide us through this technique. Students adjust their breathing to
the speed that the sphere is opening and closing.
I first had students use their hand with me before the video so that they could get an
idea for how this worked. I asked students to pretend they had a sphere in their hands
and open it when they took a breath and closed them when you exhaled.
We then went along with the video and did about 4 deep breaths. It is important to
mention that you do not have to follow the exact timing as me or as in the video, it depends
on how you feel and what is best for your breathing and body. I will link the video we
followed below.
I asked again what zone students were following the activity and many felt as though they
were in the green zone, students mentioned they felt less “stressed”.
11.) Mindful Affirmations
Mindful affirmations was an activity to help students move back to the green zone after
possibly being in the blue zone, possibly feeling down on themselves. I like this activity
because it allows students to think positively about themselves. I asked students if they
felt as though they weren’t good enough or sad about something they did, I let students
know that I do feel like this sometimes. This strategy can help us feel less blue and more
green.
Many students had heard of affirmations before, some students had even partaken in
affirmations at home. I gave an example of an affirmation to students - for example “I am
brave”.
To begin this activity I asked students to spread out around the room and put their hands
on their waists. This makes me feel confident and strong.
Students and I followed along with guided video, saying the affirmation in our heads first
then out loud to make sure our minds hear us!
I will link the video below.
Following this activity students mentioned they felt better about themselves, as well as I
could tell as SO many students had smiles on their faces following.
Positive Affirmations For Kids - Mindful and Calming - Promote Good Self Esteem and…
12.) Mindful Snack
This one, I saved for last. Students did think this one was very exciting.
This mindful activity like several others was encouraging students to focus on the present
moment and the thoughts, feelings and activities they felt at this exact moment. This
helps students push thoughts and worries away so they can focus more on being in the
green zone. This activity also allows students to be AWARE of things they are not normally
aware of, it is also important to focus on what we are eating, making sure we are not eating
too fast. I found an excellent resource with guiding questions that I will attach below.
