Our students have been practising mindfulness with Erica and Ren each Tuesday.

Here is the coverage from this week's lesson, with ideas for you to try at home.

Lesson 9: Mindful Breathing and Anchor Words

Today, in our mindfulness lesson, we learned more about mindful breathing. We learned that when we try to pay attention to our breath, sometimes our mind starts thinking about many things.

We can help train our brain to pay attention to just one thing, our breath, by using anchor words. When we take a breath in we can say out loud, “Breathing in,” and when we breathe out, we can say out loud, “Breathing out.” When we use anchor words, our attention is directed to just noticing our breath.

Follow-up discussions for teachers and parents:

Worksheet Link: Lesson 8 - Workbook.pdf

You can reinforce this lesson at home by practicing with your students and asking these questions:

● What is mindful breathing?
● When is a time you might need to practice mindful breathing? (e.g., when you are nervous, stressed, angry, etc.)

Practice Videos:

Short practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydEodALU2rc

Long practice:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN-UZXLh07k

Whānau/Home Practice

● Bed time: If your child has a breathing buddy (e.g., stuffed animal), have them practice saying the anchor words out loud with their buddy on their belly.

● In my community: Mindful breathing can be done while waiting in the grocery line, sitting at a red light in the car, or on the bus––so many opportunities.

Feel free to contact your Mindfuli Kaiako at any time if you have any questions or email us at info@mindfuli.org.nz

Feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions.

Ngā mihi,Erica Viedma CEO/Head Teacher 

Mindfuli

Mindfulness in Schools Ōtautahi

027 6622497