1. Introductory remarks:

Life is change (feelings, thoughts, images, perceptions, sensations, smells, sounds, etc). We may like some, dislike some others, or we may feel indifferent to them.

When we are triggered, pictures and scenarios emerge in our mind and emotional energy arises and fires trains of thoughts, which we believe to be reality itself.  Unfortunately they only reflect our opinions, wants and aversions, and they take us away from the present moment, with the result that our heart and mind become clouded, and restless.

2. Demonstrate our states of mind with a jar full of sand and water :

[show a jar with some sand, add water, shake it vigorously].

It looks all cloudy now, we can’t see through it;

[ask them what needs to be done to make the water clear again]

Imagine that the sand is like our thoughts when we are stressed, mad or upset. Observe how the grains whirl around and make it really hard to see clearly?

That’s why it’s so easy to make silly decisions when we are upset – because we are not thinking clearly. Don’t worry, this happens to everyone, including grown-ups.

[Put the jar down, and let it rest, in full sight]

Now watch what happens when we keep still for a while. Keep watching. See how the sand starts to settle and the water clears? Our mind works the same way. When we are calm for a little while, our breath slows down, and so does our heart beat; our thoughts slowly settle down and we start perceiving things and events more clearly.

3. Ask then to sit comfortable, keep their eyes half closed, and ask them to scan the environment, keeping an open and curious attitude, no grasping and no pushing away, sensations and thoughts come and go, we do not invite them for a cup of tea…

• Quality of light (bright /dim/soft);
• Air (stale/fresh, any smells in the room);  is the breathing shallow or deep ? fast or slow? Do not worry, it will settle in its own time;
• Background sounds;
• Room temperature (hot/warm/cold);
• Humidity in the air (dry/humid/stuffy);
• Is the body tired, or full of energy, or perhaps restless ? Is the mind alert or dull?
• Any tension or ache in our body ? Straighten up the body, deep breath, relax the tension;
• Can you sense your heart beat ? if so, is it fast or slow ?

4. Inner weather Report : what is our background mood  and how are we feeling right now? 

e.g. stormy, breezy, sunny, stuffy, foggy, raining, windy, gusty, cloudy, shivering, etc..  Whatever it is, it is ok. We do not try to change it, we let it develop and change naturally.

We just straighten up the body, take a couple of deep breaths, and become aware of where the tension is in the body, and relax it as we breath out. We breathe in the zest, energy and grace of Life, and as we breath out we let out all our pain, worries, concerns, fears, regrets, wants, dislikes, etc. We hand them over to Life itself, and see them dissolving in the surroundings like smoke…not mine any more, Life can take care of them.

5. Ask them to stand, and close their eyes, if they feel comfortable with it : how does it feel ? How is your balance ?

• Breathing exercises to relieve stress

Breath in three times, drop the shoulders, relax

Power breath to quickly calm down:

Breath in while silently counting to 5 ; hold your breath counting to 2; breath out counting to 8 or 10, whatever is comfortable; pause, counting to two.  Repeat ten time

Shark fin exercise

Place the inside edge of your right or left hand on your forehead, thumb touching your head, like a shark fin,  and breath in;

slowly bring your hand down over your nose and chin, while blowing your breath out, until the tip of your index touches your chin; feel your breath on your hand as you lower it.

Pause 2 seconds;

Breath in as you bring your hand up again

Repeat five times

(see http://shakeitoff-mindfulness.weebly.com/shark-fin.html )

Teach them the blowing out of the candle : 

Stretch out your right or left arm in front of you, index held up straight.

Pretend it is a candle: take a deep breath and blow it out in an all out effort, as if it was your birthday

Repeat 3 times

• Follow the sound for as long as you can, locate it

You can use a Tibetan singing bell or similar, for this exercise:

Hit the bell, ask them to follow the sound until they can, counting slowly and silently; Is it the same in both ears ? How long could they hear it for ?

Ask them to close their eyes. Quietly move around in the room, hit the bell, ask them to locate the source of the sound.

• When the children are fairly relaxed: mindfulness of breathing sensations

Ask them to put their flat hands over belly button, keep breathing, and feel the rib cage expanding and contracting, a few times

Feel the cool air at the nostrils while breathing in;

The air going through the nose and throat passages;

The moment when the inbreath stops and turns into the out-breath;

Feel the air warmer as it is breathed out through the nostrils. Repeat slowly a few times

6. Breathing colours exercise :

Think of a relaxing colour (e.g. green, in my case) and imagine that the air around you is filled with it.

Think of a tense colour, one associated with unpleasant emotions (e.g. red, in my case);  Breathe in the relaxing colour, breath out the tense colour, and see it disperse and disappear in the surrounding, being absorbed by the relaxing colour.

Repeat for 5 times.

7. How the heart beat changes 

Feel the heart beat at the pulse (show), side of the neck  under the jaw, over their heart; count them between two bell rings

Jump up and down 10 times

Feel the heart beat at the pulse (show), side of the neck under the jaw, over their heart; count them between two bell rings

Sit down, breathe deeply into your belly

Feel the heart beat at the pulse (show), side of the neck under the jaw, over their heart; count them between two bell rings.

8. Five senses count down.

Think of: 5 things you can see ; 4 things you can touch ; 3 things you can hear; 2 things you can smell ;  1 thing you can taste

9. Awareness of others, and of our attitude to our environment

Stand in front of your chair,  join your hands as if in prayer, bow to it

Pair up, and let the other child know how you feel about bowing to the chair

Face each other, join your hands as if in prayer, bow to each other. How does it feel ?

• Whole Body scan

Imagine we’ve got a flashlight or a torchlight, and whenever we point it to a part of our body we become aware of that organ or part.

Start from the toes, stretch them as you breathe in, relax them as you breath out. Slowly move up to the feet, legs, buttocks, abdomen/belly, chest/rib cage, hands, lower arms, elbows, upper arms, raise the shoulders and drop them

Imagine we’ve got a hook at the to of our head, and a string/rope connects it to a pulley attached to the ceiling;

Imagine our best friend is gently pulling us up, to the point we are almost off the ground.

Now relax into that posture

Imagine a fountain of pure white light pouring down on top of our head, seeping into it….nice and cool, very peaceful.. and it is slowly moving down to the rest of the body (name the parts) and eventually reaches the toes, ….nice and cool, very peaceful..

You may start now feeling some warmth and tingling at the tips of the fingers and at the tip of the toes. You may even start seeing some soothing inner colour.. enjoy them..

• Gratitude Exercise

Take five minutes to think of something that you feel grateful for today.

• Perhaps an item that you love.

• • A part of your body you are grateful for and why.
  • A skill or ability you have.
  • An activity or hobby you are grateful to be able to do (from origami to star-gazing..).
  • What you have learnt from something that was hard to do or achieve.
  • Something nice that people did for you in the last 24 hours.
  • A person in your life that you appreciate and are fond of.
  • A endearing quality of someone whom we may find hard to get along with, sometimes

• Something that made you laugh in the last week
• Development of Goodwill

Put a smile on your face and remember a time when all was ok, not a worry in the world, you enjoyed what you did, you had the love of your family and friends.

May I be happy, well, have some joy, nice food/safe/strong/healthy/free from suffering, find peace in my heart, deepest wishes come true..

Stay with it for a few seconds

Then think of someone you care about and wish them to be happy too

Expand it to the whole class, then everyone in the school (children, teachers, staff, etc). Everyone in town (streets, buses, underground, offices, factories, shops, parks, etc).

All living beings in the Country, from Scotland to Cornwall, from Ireland to the south East.

All living being in the world, underground, on land, in the water, in the air, people flying right now, our astronauts in the space station.

All sentient beings in our truly vast universe, in all directions : we do care about them and we hold them all in our heart. We wish them to safe and healthy, joyful and free from suffering; we wish them to find meaning in their life, and realize their true nature.

Ask them to stay with it for a few seconds, then ring a bell, slowly stretch, in your own time open your eyes; How does it feel like ?  Discuss