How to Get Started…
From my own experiences in the classroom, you can spend 5 minutes or 15, and you can make a huge difference in the atmosphere, the willingness and openness to learn, the happiness level in the room, and the feeling from the students that you care about them. Children will ask for it, and not just as a distraction, but before a test or quiz (Can you ring the chime? Can we do four-square breathing? Can we be elephants for a few minutes? Can I stand up and do a yoga stretch?). They want to begin the class with it and end the class with it, because they know and they feel that it sets the tone.
5 Easy Ways to Begin:
1) Breathing exercises (5-10 mins.) at beginning of class or as a lead-in to a creative project (i.e. poetry writing), or to calm before a test (practiced leading up to standardized testing). I still have former students come back to visit me, or I run into them in town, who tell me they use the breathing techniques and that they help them.
2) Sound: Use a chime to get their attention, but also to invite a moment of calm. Explain that they need to remain quiet and raise their hand when they can no longer hear the chime. Eventually, they will learn to close their eyes and feel the vibration of the chime, and you might want to ring it more than once. This is great for a class that comes in after a transition and is out of control. (Class changes, after lunch, after special classes).
3) Short guided meditations/creative visualization: Some remind me of a creative visualization/meditation I do, called “A Room Inside Your Head”. Sometimes used as a jumping off point for creative writing or project, or just to calm and center. Take them on a journey to the beach, or on a walk through the forest. Be creative, and use your experiences of what is relaxing to help them learn to imagine and visualize.
4) Basic postures/stretches: These can be used as needed and as you learn them yourself, such as when you look at a sea of faces who are tired, or have heard too much information, or who look a little lost. I would often take this moment to stop, stand up, lead them through a few stretches (5 minutes), a posture or two, end with head to toes and roll up, often saying, “We’re getting our energy from our feet and our seats to our heads, where we need it!”
5) Longer relaxation (Savasana) posture: Once in a while, it’s nice to take 15 mins. for a guided relaxation, where they can spread out on the floor and take a journey. This can be used for a treat, after a test, or after a long week/finishing projects, etc. There are many books and cd’s available with guided relaxation and meditations.