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Mindfulness Monday: Pura Vida Coloring Pages
It can be hard to return to school after Thanksgiving break and the four weeks until Christmas break will be very challenging which is why I love that Pura Vida has mental health awareness and other holiday coloring pages that are free to download. You can fin them here: https://www.puravidabracelets.com/blogs/the-pv-scoop/pv-coloring-sheets I love to promote companies…
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Progress Report
I am happy to report that I finally got the chance to do the Pebble Activity with my department. I almost talked myself out of it a number of times throughout the day but when we met as a group, I asked them if I could practice it with them and they agreed! I feel…
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Mindfulness Monday: Gratitude Pumpkins
Just in time for Thanksgiving, our activity today is creating a Gratitude Pumpkin. What you will need: -orange and green construction paper -scissors -sharpies -stapler Instructions: Give students three strips of orange construction paper and a cut out of leaves from the green construction paper. Have students use a sharpie to write what they are…
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Micro-dosing Mindfulness
Before I embraced my own practice, I was intimidated by the concept of mindfulness. I never envisioned myself meditating or checking in with my emotions throughout the day. If you do not think you have the time or interest in mindfulness -I get it. I didn’t try anything mindful until I was desperate. So, consider…
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Shout Out!
This shout out goes to my paraprofessional during A block, Deb Seamans. She not only participates in my Mindfulness Monday activities, but she also shares her own mindfulness ideas with me as well. Here is a picture of a mindfully painted rock she uses to inspire hikers in the woods. Keep up the great work…
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Mindfulness Monday: Mandala Painting
Thank you to my colleague, Christine Lord, for introducing me to Mandala painting. In Sanskrit, Mandala means “circle” and the art represents the symmetry of the universe. It reminds us that everything is interconnected and it is a peaceful way to decrease negativity in our lives. We tried it out today and it was a…
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Mindfulness Monday: Breathing Bubble
I love to share the free breathing bubble from the Calm app with my students Here is the video I use from YouTube: Focusing on our breath is the easiest form of being in the moment and noticing the mind/body connection. I found myself replaying the video multiple times through out the day. This simple…
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The Paradox of Mindfulness
I recently came across the article, “Paradoxes of Mindfulness” by Dr. Shauna Shapiro, et al. It addresses the idea that the more focus we place on mindfulness and being happy with who we are, the more we want to change. As we practice mindfulness, we are faced with four paradoxical concepts: (1) Acceptance vs. Change,…
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Mindfulness Monday: Mindful Coloring
Today’s Mindfulness Monday activity is mindful coloring. This is always a popular activity with my students. Since tomorrow is Halloween, I gave them a coloring page of a haunted house. Participation was high in all of my classes today and I think it may have something to do with how coloring makes students feel about…
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Mindfulness Monday: Origami
Today’s Mindfulness Monday activity is origami. I give each student a sheet of square origami paper and play a YouTube video of instructions for folding an origami fortune teller. Here is the link to the video I use : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CODnVX7VAZ8 In the past, I have found that most students are already familiar with origami so…