Meet Miss Frog
Sitting still like a frog
SESSION EIGHT
To close up our eight-week program and inspired by Eline Snel’s book, a special guest gets invited to join us today: here is a real prompt!! The children are running around telling each other «Miss Frog is here» , «Miss Frog is on the terrace»…
They meet Miss Frog, one by one, quietly and expectantly. They are asked to speak to Miss Frog about all the things they have learnt about Mindfulness.
The students talk about «Building up the attention muscle», about «Mindful Eating», about «Here and now» and «Learning about our emotions». So this session gets organised as follows:
- Mindfulness practice
- Yoga on the terrace
- Mindful walking and the senses
- Mindful Eating
- Emotional froggies
- Surprise!
One student wants to show Miss Frog first so he grabs the bell and starts facilitating today’s practice. Breathing in and out – focusing on breathing only – building up the attention muscle. Everyone just follows in silence as never before! Miss Frog is really impressed.
One other student wants to show this video where «she» facilitates yoga practices. She insists: this is Me in the future. So we all follow «her» instructions on the video.
Miss Frog and Miss Yoga teacher <3
Yoga is a great exercise to be mindful in movement. Focusing on breathing and paying attention to the sensations in our body. Being aware of our limits. Noticing our weaknesses and strengths. Respecting ourselves.
We then move on to Mindful Walking
The invitation is to be aware of Nature, of Life itself really. In this hectic world we sometimes forget how important Nature is. Just walking in the fields or strolling by the sea can reset our minds and refresh bodies. We can stop for a minute or two, and j-u-s-t look around. Notice the colour of our roses, the fresh air in the morning, the sounds of the day, the light in the setting sun, the eyes of that kind lady or gentleman at the supermarket.
So we listen to this theme by Tom Walker and start waking with the focus on our steps. Let’s walk as if there is no hurry. One step at a time. Trying to listen carefully to the surrounding sounds. Paying attention to the scents around. Looking carefully at the colour of the flowers. Or actually seeing our classmates.
Miss Frog baked a cake!
When they have done enough exercise [yoga, then walking] we decide to concentrate on Mindful Eating. They know this practice from before so they now only really want to show Miss Frog why mindful eating is actually good: to appreciate flavours, to notice when you are satisfied and need no more, or to show gratitude for the food on the table.
At this point Miss Frog is so impressed she cannot believe how much the children have learnt in only eight weeks. Before the next dynamics she asks the students how they are feeling today and they respond. They say they usually write or draw in their emotional diaries during Mindfulness sessions.
Miss Frog then hands out one «emotional frog card» for each of the children where she has tried to describe them following the initials in their names. They read their descriptions, repeat the adjectives, tell each other what Miss Frog has written about them, and get all excited. «I am adorable» , «I am curious», «Miss Frog thinks I am intelligent»!
To top it up she asks the children to think of one number as she has something to give as a token that would remind them to be a little mindful during their summer holiday.
The lucky child feels over the moon when he get Miss Frog’s bell!
Have a good summer!
go to session seven: beditation go to session one: the attention muscle
go to: introduction
La vida, sin prisa
