“I felt really calm,” said one
7th grade student. “I felt like I was far away from the problem. It
felt really good,” said another. “I didn’t want it to end,” laughed another. It
seemed as though a magic wand was waved over the 35 students in our “Circles of
Compassion” class. Seriously! On a meter for energy they went from a high of 10
to a calm of 1. Just ten minutes earlier
they were buzzing with heightened energy and chatter from our previous
activities and were having difficulty settling into this activity laughing with
self-consciousness and uncertainty. The magic wand? Guided Visualization. I was
looking at 35 students melted into their chairs or places on the floor like wax
dripped off a candle. There was no chatter or case of the “sillies”, no
wiggling. Only complete, sweet calm.
Guided
visualization
Guided visualization, also known
as "guided imagery" or “guided meditation”, is one of the most
powerful techniques for positive change which can be tailored to help us
accomplish specific goals such as personal transformation or achievement, deep
relaxation, healing, and so much more. With
eyes closed and listening to relaxation music in the background, the students
listened to the imagery described using all the senses (seeing it, hearing it,
feeling it…), and created a movie in their mental images to experience and
affirm calm and peace, while sending compassion to an event that may be
replaying in their minds about what someone may have said or done to them which
impacted them negatively. With effective breathing techniques also supporting
the process to work its magic, their bodies began to melt into deep relaxation.
Social emotional learning
Self-management or
self-regulation is a critical piece in social emotional learning. When it comes
to bullying and relationships, sometimes the things people say and do can get
us “off our game plan” because we feel hurt, sad, angry, or scared. It can lead
to feeling powerless and upset. Amazingly, our mind cannot tell the difference
between an actual ‘real-life’ event and a vividly imagined one. The body responds physically, emotionally, and
mentally whether it is responding to events actually happening (for example, being
bullied) or being visualized (replaying the incident of being bullied). When we
can get stuck in our thoughts about the negative experience it can have a
negative impact on our bodies and minds over time.
Feeling in control
Today’s guided visualization allowed
an opportunity to experience an effective life-skill for feeling in control of
ourselves in a proactive, positive manner. By experiencing a positive guided
visualization we actively choose which thoughts we focus on and our conscious
minds become programmed by our subconscious minds by focusing on creative, possible,
peaceful outcomes, as did the students in this activity. In just 10 minutes the
students experienced mindfulness in a body scan to release tension; sent a
bubble of love and caring to surround their personal incident to release
aggressive thoughts and replace them with compassionate intentions in their
practices to get “Compassion-Fit;” and affirmed the belief within themselves
that they have the power to choose their thoughts and outcomes, while connecting
with their goodness by acknowledging “I …am …calm”; “I …am …peace”; “I …am
…kind”; “I …am …compassion”; “I …am …changing the world.” This is why the
student responded “I felt like I was far away from the problem. It felt really
good.” He was able to remove himself from an unpleasant experience and choose a
peaceful, healing response to it.
Your brain on meditation
You Can’t Be
Peaceful and Aggressive at the Same Time!
One of the profound results
from this activity is moving from thoughts and feelings of anxiety and stress (brought
on by such things as bullying) to experiencing and enjoying the feelings of inner
peace. When we are stressed due to the actions of others we give up our power
to experiencing peace. When we proactively use strategies to shift our thinking
and responses we take back our own power. Feeling in control can positively
impact all areas of our lives, emotionally, socially, and academically (The
control, in this case, is for positive purposes where it is used for positive
intentions.) We can’t feel at peace and we can’t experience peace if we are
having thoughts or images which are aggressive, angry, sad, worried. We get to
choose. The benefits of guided visualization are long lasting, including feelings
of deep relaxation, emotional and physical healing, enhancing creativity, increasing
creativity, improving performance and skills, increasing confidence,
self-empowerment, developing compassion, and so much more. Wouldn’t it be amazing
to start the school day in classrooms school-wide with youth being able to
release stress and feel peaceful while opening up their hearts and minds to
prepare for learning?
Practice, practice!
We are filled with a wondrous
resource within ourselves to draw upon anytime it’s needed to experience calm
and peace. This gift often goes unopened or ignored yet it can be one of the
best gifts we use when opened. It’s tucked right there within us. By practicing
this with our youth they will grow up understanding the benefits because they actively
experienced it! “I …am …calm”; “I …am …peace”; “I …am …compassion”; “I …am
…changing the world beginning with myself.”
Watch for the next blog: Get Compassion-Fit!
Learn how the Circles of Compassion humaniteam at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, CA will be taking on
the challenge to get Compassion-Fit!
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blogs.
Contact Dee
DiGioia: CCKidsDee@gmail.com
Public speaking- Conferences, Community or school-based
Workshops for parents and/or educators.
Fundraising! NEW Mindfulness and Meditation program
coming! Autism Movement Therapy Certification
Dee DiGioia resides in El Dorado Hills, CA and is currently teaching "Circles of Compassion" Teen Leadership program at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, CA
