Recently one of my students was struggling with bad dreams. His mom asked me to support him at school in helping him learn skills to deal with his worries. In addition to teaching him several deep breathing techniques and using play therapy to "play out" and talk...
We are having fun this week with outer space relaxation! Just looking at pictures from outer space elicits a feeling of calm and serenity within me, so I am sharing this experience with my students. Here are some discussion ideas and activities for you...
Here's a quick break for all of the kiddos you know that could use a pause and some sensory input to help them balance and calm their minds and bodies. To introduce this break or for practice, I ask the boys in my group to drop and "be a snake in the grass." First...
This morning in our small group yoga time at school, we practiced relaxation skills using a spinner visual aid. This visual aid helped students to stay focused on what we were learning and was a great tool to bring attention back to the present moment when it was...
Here's another fun book produced by Singing Dragon: Ladybird's Remarkable Relaxation by Michael Chissick and Sarah Peacock. I love how they champion relaxation practice! This is a wonderful resource for parents, therapists and educators. "Based on anecdotal...
I have been enjoying sharing this book with the children I work with. Once Upon a Touch by Mary Atkinson and Sandra Hooper is a wonderful book to introduce the relaxing power of massage and to teach various massage techniques through the use of story. For ages 3-11,...
This weekend I had the opportunity to be a part of Casey Feicht's, (kidsyogaguide.com), parent/child yoga class for kids. There were dances, giggles, deep breathing with breathing buddy friends, poses, toys, stories and singing. Making yoga fun for kids is certainly...
I have been practicing Qigong! According to the National Qigong Association (nqa.org), "qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques and focused intention." The other day while I was finishing my morning...
Recently I heard Brene Brown speak on her Rising Strong book tour. She spoke about her research on resilience and some qualities that people can embody in order to become more resilient in their life. Her studies showed that resilient people have a couple of things...
Recently, I shared some key messages and activities inspired by the Pixar movie Inside Out! Here are some more activities and messages I gleaned from the movie. I have the figurines promptly displayed in my school psych office and let me tell you... they are VERY...
