As a parting gift for the summer vacation, I gave students a feather today.  We talked about mindfulness and why it is important to bring your attention into the present moment so that you can relax, be aware of how you are feeling, and calm down your nervous system and your brain.  

Mindful Feather Brushing

I asked each student to hold the feather and lightly brush the palm of their hand, paying attention to the sensations while they were doing it.  We spoke softly while we slowly brushed our palms with the feather, back and forth and back and forth.  I also invited them to breathe in slowly with one brush of the feather and to breathe out with the second brush.  Breathing in we brushed from wrist to finger tips, breathing out we brushed from finger tips to wrist.  Repeating this several times, you could feel the energy in the room calm and focus.

I explained that this feather could be a “wand of relaxation” this summer.  Whenever they are feeling stressed, frustrated, or any other strong emotion, they can simply use the feather to gently brush across their face or arms or hands to relax.  Every spot the feather touches, relaxes upon the touch of the feather.

Feather Flutter Breathing

Next, we practiced taking a deep breath.  They held the feather in front of their mouth and took a deep breath in and then on the exhale, they watched how long they could make the feather flutter.