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------------- >Room 15 & Emwave Article
Calming Down our Amygdala with some Strategies
Breathing, relaxing your body , changing your thoughts to green or happy ones are some!
What Is a Thought? These are the ITBDs that Brain Eater can use to distract us. This is a simple children's book that introduces young readers to the concept of thought and the amazing power our thoughts have on our lives. Our thinking can create and impact our feelings and behaviors. When our minds are calm we can think more clearly and calmly thus not react without thinking. We can pause and choose how to respond.
Keep it simple, fun and responsive to their insights.
Children sprinkled glitter into a jar of calm clear water that represents our quiet calm minds. Each child sprinkled a thought they were having into the jar with glitter. I then stirred up all their thoughts to demonstrate that it is more difficult to see through the water or think clearly & calmly when we are agitated by our thoughts. But if we breathe and watch our minds and bodies became calm again. This pause helps us respond more thoughtfully without the quick impulsive reaction often associated when we say we reacted 'without thinking' or attention. We watched the glitter settle as we calmly breathed as we would with the Emwaves.
We have also been practicing listening with our full attention calmly for longer periods without reacting- just noticing what we hear- using our singing bowl as a start. Transitions are challenging and it is hard to settle back into the routine of attending and listening. So as a class we come in from recess or just before a classroom transition and sit for less than a minute and calmly listen to the tone of the singing bowl noticing & focussing our attention relaxing our minds & bodies preparing ourselves to listen to a direction & transition to the next activity. We talk about what we hear and how well we can listen.
Emwaves
This is but one tool to help the children develop understanding and strategies to self regulate & develop some self control , understand their their emotions, focus their attention, be mindful of their thoughts and reactions to stress. I typically do not take pictures during our practice time with the Emwaves as the calm and respect for stillness & quiet is often requested. The children like the lights low and are trying to find their own way through trial and error of positions, lights , sounds that help them relax and maintain the green light on the Emwave. I have managed to capture a few...
Different strategies that the children have found helps them become calm and quiet.
Understanding our emotions and how to face our fears.
Building on the themes we have been working on in Pirate Club, this book was read to the 2 small Emwave groups. The idea that we all have dragons ( fears or worries ) and how to face them even if you are a child is the important message in this clever book. Breathing and understanding how stress, anxiety and worry impacts our bodies and thoughts is also the ongoing theme and why we use the Emwaves. So for this lesson, we made our fire breathing dragons. Like feather & cotton ball breathing activities seen below, this book and our dragons provides the children with another way to understand the connections between our thoughts & feelings. This book also expanded on some strategies taught in pirate club that they can use to self regulate & encourage more positive feelings. They loved their dragons!
Breath control & awareness activities
Emwaves 1 minute -7 minutes focussed and calm.
Integrating iPads & Emwaves
iPad Apps Used in Class
Emwaves in the Classroom
Team teaching with an OT, we integrate EMWAVES with body awareness, self regulation & movement. We teach the children how stress and anxiety feels in the body, what contributes to their anxiety, and help them develop & use strategies to self regulate their reactions and feelings during stressful events. They learn the difference between different states of being ( excited or anxious etc.) The Emwaves are powerful tools that will help reach these goals. Emwaves are small hand held devices that help you learn how to recognize and relax by slowly breathing while following the device's soothing blue light. In addition, the device signals your success at becoming relaxed by displaying a red, blue or green light to reflect your level of relaxation. You can also use the device connected to a computer and play a few simple visual games to assist you in reaching a more relaxed state.
More Information-- EMWAVES
2012-2013 Emwaves in the Classroom Page
More Information-- EMWAVES
2012-2013 Emwaves in the Classroom Page