Introduction to Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is the ability to monitor and control our bodies, emotions, and thoughts, and changing them as needed. There are many strong or difficult emotions that need  need regulating. Children can experience a range of  reactions  with difficult emotions (i.e. sweat, heart races, yell, stomp, cry) Many students identified feelings of frustration, anger, sadness and sometimes all of those mixed together.
To get us thinking about how to regulate our behaviours, we played the game, Red Light, Green Light. Students made connections that cars must regulate their driving to be aware of what is happening around them (just like our feelings!)

The Six Sides of Breathing

Lazy 8 Breath

Another great strategy for children to be able to pay attention to their breath or to help regulate their own behaviour when they are feeling upset, worried or even over excited.

More Mindful Breathing Strategies

At the beginning of each of our lessons, we spend the first few minutes focused on the ABCs of mindfulness. The "A" represents our ability to focus our attention and be aware, the "B" represents breathing (focusing on the rhythm, counting our breaths) and finally the "C" caring for ourselves and others. Throughout the year, we will share these strategies through this blog.