Mindfulness

In Term 3 we practiced Mindfulness. We learned that Mindfulness is when your body and your mind are in the same place. We practiced Mindfulness by using our senses. We watched food dye in water using our sense of sight and noticed where our minds went; we saw pictures in the water.

We had to listen really carefully to a mindfulness bell and put our hands up when we could no longer hear it.

We used our sense of smell and noticed what thoughts came up when we smelled different flowers and herbs:

"It smells like vanilla slice" Narcissus

"Mmmmm roast potatoes" Rosemary

"It reminds me of lemonade" Lemon peel

"Its my mum's tomato sauce" Thyme

We learnt to pay attention to our bodies by watching changes in our heart rate and breathing when we jumped up and down. We also played a game called 'squeeze and relax' where we had to feel our muscles when they were really squished up and then when they were heavy and relaxed. We also talked about really BIG emotions and learnt how we could use straw breathing to help with these.

The most fun game was the chocolate game. We talked about 'urges' and how these are difficult to control. We practiced controlling our urge to eat the chocolate by exploring it with all of our senses first. We had to look at the chocolate, smell it and listen to it....and then eat it as slowly and mindfully as we could...it was really hard!