Educational Resources that support my Wellness Classes
8 Branches of Yoga
In my yoga lessons to older students I share how ancient yoga philosophy is still relevant for 21st century living and explain why a yogic lifestyle is more than just yoga but a moral compass to live by.
Teen Love Languages
One of the ways I can teach at a more personal level with my students is to identify their individual love language, encouraging them to take the following quiz: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/love-language
Brain-Breaks for Study Time
2021 was an incredibly tough year on all our young people, but be encouraged, the students, teacher and pastoral staff wellness programmes that I develop for schools, are designed future-proof my students to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing so they can come to rely on these lifeskill in any challenging moment. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, remember the Acceptance Breath: sit up tall, relax shoulders, soften your face muscles by releasing your jaw and lower your gaze or close your eyes:
On the videos below, Joshua demonstrates 'how to' relax, re-set or revitalise in body-mind using the empowerment of breath. Practice as often as you need to during intense exam revision or even during school breaks.
Click here for a Joyful Breathing exercise to feel good from the inside out!
Click here for a 5 mins Seated Yoga flow to ease tension in your body
Click here to re-set and revitalise with a Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Click here to Boost your Metabolism with Ocean breath
Click here to learn a breathing technique that will help you Regain your Focus
Click here to practice Brain-Breaks to improve your sense of perspective & balance
Coping with Uncertainty
'Fear of the unknown' is a contributory factor to feelings of anxiety in children/teens. With the global pandemic now in its 2nd year, and COVID-19 being a constantly moving target, it's easy for young people to be drawn into a vicious cycle of uncertainty, negative thoughts, images, emotions, behavioural patterns and physical sensations.
Joyful Hearts' students learn a variety of useful strategies (depending on the area of wellness) - all of which have memorable acronyms, such as:
STOPP - Stop > Take a breath > Observe with kindness > Pull back (gain perspective) > Practice what works
APPLE - Acknowledge > Pause > Pull back > Let go > Explore (reframe your attention)
When we practice mindfulness, you are encouraged to focus on the breath to remain fixed 'in the present moment'. My guided visualisations invite students to release and let go of their worries, fears, stress in a safe space, in calm and healthy ways. Recordings available upon request.
Evaluating Anxiety
When your child/teen experiences 'anxiety' they can communicate how they are feeling on a scale from 1-10, using the descriptions on the thermometer below. Observe what triggers their anxiety over-time (write in a journal as and when it occurs) to gain a better perspective on how anxiety levels can change throughout the day. Knowing what triggers anxiety allows you to talk openly about it. Please listen to Joyful Hearts calming body scan meditation to find stillness.
Rising to the Challenges
I invite all younger children to click this YouTube link and have fun making a plastic lung to learn more about how your body breathes. Explore the science of YOGA and rise to the challenges of growing up by becoming more aware of your awesome anatomy. For teens and tween, try a 3-part yogic breathing technique to help ease your anxious thoughts in the moment.
A Love for Learning
Click on the pdf link below and print out the Multiple Intelligence Quiz to discover your most dominant learning style. Remember the more ways your brain can absorb new information the easier it is to retain and retrieve it when you need it most - knowing this can really support your best revision style.
https://www.itcpublications.com.au/assets/files/Gardners_MI_Quiz.pdf
Watch this short video to find out more, or read about it if you're a word smart!
My dominant learning styles are picture and body smart - I am observant and prefer to draw images, charts and maps to learn new informaton. I also like to learn how things work by using practical skills, tapping into my kinesthetic intelligence :-)
Appreciating All of You
Being more aware of your character strengths and appreciating all of you, has been scientifically proven to lower stress levels and boost your overall health and wellbeing. Click the link below to take the free online survey (there's also one for adults)!
https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register#youth
Playing to your key strengths is an important life-skill and remember there is no-one else exactly like you!
Building Emotional Resilience
Younger children can download the resilience shield activity and try to remember their 'helper words', lions-breath and empowering yoga poses to "be strong when things go wrong!"
