Meditation- an update from Mrs Bassett-Lowe
Mrs Bassett-Lowe has been continuing her Wednesday afternoon meditation teaching. This term she will be working with Year 5 and Year 6. Please see an update below on the learning that took place.
In Y5 and Y6 this term we have been looking at strategies we can use to let go / cope with some of our big emotions.
We practised controlled breathing 3:5, where we breathed in for a count of 3 and exhaled for 5. This helps lower our heart rate, allows us to destress; and as we are focussing on the breath, it takes our mind away from what is troubling us.
We looked at bringing CALM to our bodies by taking several deep breathes into our chest, then arms, followed by legs and finally to our mInds.
Continuing the theme on focussing on our breath to aid us, we worked on squared breathing. Breathing in for a count of 4, holding for a count of 4, breathing out for a count of 4 and holding for a count of 4. This exercise is able to be done discreetly, if we are finding things hard.
We also reminded ourselves of a favourite, starfish breathing, where we can use our hands to help just focus on taking slow, deep breaths, inhaling as we travel up the finger and exhaling as we travel down the finger.
We looked at how we can use our senses as a way of letting go. Focussing on 5 things we can see, hear and feel can help ground us and calm our minds down.