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    yoga

    JANUARY

    Mindfulness | Sleep

    Mindfulness

    Mindfulness can be a great tool to start the new year off with mental attention and awareness to focus on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting your own feelings and thoughts. This month, we are also featuring staff wellness opportunities!

     

    For Students

     

    Communications

    • School Announcements
      • “What is mindfulness? It is a simple technique that emphasizes paying attention to the present moment in an accepting, nonjudgmental manner."
      • “Practice is key to achieving mindfulness, and once you get better at jt, it can be a tool to help you explore new sensations, including those that are pleasant, neutral and unfamiliar."
      • “When you are frustrated, upset, and out of touch with the present moment, a popular mindfulness exercise known as S.T.O.P. can be helpful. 
        • Stop. Just take a pause, no matter what you’re doing. 
        • Take a breath. Feel the sensation of your own breathing, which brings you back to the present moment. 
        • Observe. Acknowledge what is happening, for good or bad, inside you or out. Just notice it. 
        • Proceed. After checking in with the present moment, continue with whatever it was you were doing."

      • “A simple exercise, known as R.A.I.N., can help us stay in the present moment and not get caught up clinging to the experiences of others, or our own emotions. 

        • R: Recognize. Acknowledge what is happening, just noting it in a calm and accepting way.
        • A: Accept. Allow life to be just as it is, without trying to change it right away, and without wishing it were different somehow. 
        • I: Investigate. See how it feels, whether it is making you upset or happy, giving you pleasure or pain, just note it. 
        • N: Non-Identification. Realize that what you are feeling is temporary and it will pass soon. It isn’t who you are."
    • Flyer/Poster

     

    Learning for Students

     

    Activities

     

    For Staff

     

    Communications

    • Bulletin board
      • Create a Wellness Wall with inspirational quotes and a space for shout-outs to staff.

     

    Resources to Share

    Sleep

    Many people make resolutions about physical activity this time of year, but sleep and rest are important for our overall health as well! Sleep can help you recover, remember things, figure out problems, and is linked to weight management.

     

    Communications

    • Bulletin Board
      • Use a “Who Needs Sleep?" theme with stars, moon and an owl answering the question with “YOU.” Write facts and consequences that show your students the importance of sleep to their health and grades.
      • Use a “Walking Dead” theme highlighting the many consequences caused by sleep-deprivation (and also highlight all the benefits of getting a good night’s sleep!)
      • Put up tips for better sleep.
    • School Announcements
      • “What are the benefits of sleep? Makes you less tired, increases health, can make you look more attractive, helps you figure out problems you are stuck on, improves memory and increases what you remember from class."
      • “Don’t pull an all nighter! Try to sleep after you study. In one research study, students who slept after studying remembered more and received 8% higher test scores than students who did not!
      • “How can you take care of yourself through sleep? Be mindful about what you do in the last hour before you go to sleep. Give yourself the time your body needs to sleep."
      • “Do you keep a gratitude journal? A handful of studies have found evidence that gratitude exercises may be able to improve sleep."

     

    Activities 

    • Have your students keep a Sleep Diary to track their sleep. Students can track their sleep and physical activity for a single week or the entire month to see how being active (or inactive) affects their sleep patterns. Consider using some of the sleep data your class collects to incorporate some math lessons on statistics.

     

    Resources to Share

     
     
     

     
Last Modified on August 22, 2019