beditation

 In TRAINING

SESSION SEVEN

 

We are on our very last Mindfulness sessions now. In fact, this could actually be considered the last session as next time we will have a special guest joining us…

Stay tuned!

After the usual greetings and welcoming practice -focus on breathing, here and now- the students are invited to talk about sleep time. Do they sleep well. Do they have any routine before they go to bed. Do they sleep all through or on the contrary wake up in the middle of the night.

Very unexpectedly one student starts talking about his imaginary friend. They all join in! A very interesting conversation begins about imaginary friends and inner voices, and connecting with your inner self through regular Mindfulness practices.

The first part of Beditation from MiSP is played. The children identify with the protagonist straight away.

I then invite them to listen to the music and think of those moments in bed when we can’t sleep or wake up in the middle of the night. What they do or what deprives them from sleeping. Then when the music stops, share with the rest of the group: sometimes they have thoughts that won’t let them sleep, and they toss and turn, or they go and drink some water or tea, or meet their parents for comfort.

I tell them today we will learn a new skill for those nights when we can’t sleep and follow the instructions in the video Beditation. After the practice we share how we feel and whether they think they could integrate this new skill. As it happens, some resist more than others.

            Beditation  from  MiSP

 

The second activity they are offered today is to read from two children stories. They cannot choose one so we wend up reading both! During the first story, which is read by all, Black Dog by Levi Pinfold, we discuss how most of the times our fears are bigger in our imagination than what they really are in fact. It is good to try and take a step. Try and face them with curiosity, like the smallest family member did indeed. And we all have these fears.

 

Children never stop amazing me, like when today for some particular reason they all decided to find «squid» in the illustrations. Totally unplanned. They had fun while reading the story and so did I while I was watching in astonishment

 

The second story, Duck, Death, and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch, is read by one only child as it is not in English. I do the translation. They listen very carefully to this relationship between a Duck and his friend Death. (Un)fortunately we had no time to finish the story as time was running out for our close-up Mindfulness practice. We need to wait for the second part next week!

To be continued…

They love conducting the practice themselves.  So today’s volunteer facilitator very excitedly grabs the bell and everybody gets in their position. They listen very carefully to the instructions, like I have confessed before, they prefer their own classmates to guide the practice!

The boy who gave instructions did remarkably well. Soft and imaginative. We certainly discovered a new little person inside the boy. Very well done.

Before they go  Sleep tight from Sitting still like a frog is handed out in case they would like to try at home when they can’t sleep [audio here].

 

go to session six: it’s good to be kind     go to session eight: meet miss frog

 

La vida, sin prisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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