Movement & Mindfulness

For Healthy Kids & Classrooms

Leah Kalish, MA & Wendy Piret
move-with-me.com
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 Objectives
• Experience the vital importance of play/movement/
embodied self-regulation for decreasing stress and
increasing fitness, emotional stability, and learning
readiness.

• Learn 4 Adventure Skills that can be used daily to

support well-being and build self-regulation.

• Be inspired to drink more water and make sure children

do, too.

• Understand how to transform a storybook into a Story

in Motion to both enjoy more active play and develop
social-emotional intelligence. 2
Pre-Activity / Post-Activity
• Turn head to left.
– Notice how it feels.
– Notice range of peripheral vision.
• Turn head to right.
– Notice sensation and vision.
• Fold from hips into forward bend
– Notice sensation and range of motion, touch your
fingers lightly on your knees or shins to mark
ROM
• Snap Test
– Notice ease or difficulty.
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 ABCDEF G
l r t r l r t
H I J K LMN
l l r l r r t

OP QRS T U
l t r l t r r

VW XYZ
l t t l r

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 * Named to Engage Kids 2-7 years old

• Adventure Skill # 1

• Adventure Skill # 2

• Adventure Skill # 3

• Adventure Skill # 4

*Ordered to coincide with PACE from the Brain Gym® Program 5

 ABCDEF G
l r t r l r t

H I J K LMN
l l r l r r t

OP QRS T U
l t r l t r r

VW XYZ
l t t l r
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Post-Activity
• Turn head to left.
– Notice how it feels.
– Notice range of peripheral vision.
• Turn head to right.
– Notice sensation and vision.
• Fold from hips into forward bend
– Notice sensation and range of motion, touch
your fingers lightly on your knees or shins to
mark ROM
• Snap Test
– Notice ease or difficulty.
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You Shifted Your State of Mind

Why? How?
• When you play more, you stress less
• When you stress less, you have greater access
• When you have greater access, you learn from and understand
more of the world around you

Mindfulness is increasingly recognized as an essential educational

tool. It develops attention, emotional and cognitive understanding,
bodily awareness and coordination, as well as interpersonal
awareness and skills. Because it diminishes stress, anxiety, and
hostility, mindfulness enhances our total well-being, peacefulness,
confidence, and joy.
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-Thich Nhat Hahn
 Decrease Stress
• Stressors limit access to EF:
o Dehydration
o Poor nutrition
o Environmental toxicity or over-stimulation
o Inability to self-soothe or regulate
o Developmentally inappropriate activities /
expectations
o PARENT / TEACHER STRESS

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 Activities that
Access Executive Function
• Embodied Self-Care and Regulation

• Music, Play, & Games

• Slow Intentional Coordinated Movement:
Brain Gym®, Yoga, Karate, Thai Chi, Dance
• Movement Stories
*When movement time is high energy, always use a slow intentional activity
before transitioning to academics.
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 Head Start/Common Core
Early Learning Framework
• Physical Development & Health (PDH)
• Social & Emotional Development (SED)
• Approaches to Learning (AtL)
• Logic and Reasoning (LR)
• Language Development (LD)
• Literacy Knowledge & Skills (LKS)
• Mathematics Knowledge & Skills (MKS)
• Science Knowledge & Skills (SKS)
• Creative Arts Expression (CAE)
• Social Studies Knowledge and Skills (SSKS)
• English Language Development (ELD)
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 The Power of Hydration
 
Purpose: To reinforce the principle that water is the
most easily accessed and frequently needed
Adventure Skill. To demonstrate that water is a
powerful conductor of electricity and that the human
body, consisting of between 60%-75% water, needs to
remain well-hydrated in order to deliver its millions of
electrochemical messages.   
 
Materials: Dehydrated green plant, energy ball*, cup
of water
 
Standards Addressed: AtL, LR, LD, SKS, PDH
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 Adventure Skill #1

Drink Water
Drink water regularly to sustain feeling well,
thinking clearly and being friendly.

Enhances:
• Electro-chemical activity in Central
Nervous System
• Processing speed
• Stress release

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 Adventure Skill #2
Humming Breath*

Rub spots under collarbone with thumb and one finger while
holding other hand over navel and tracking eyes horizontally.
Deep breath and HUMMMMMMM to calm and focus.
*Brain Buttons in Brain Gym®
Stimulates:
• Flow of oxygen to the brain
• Hemispheric integration
• Binocular vision - eye teaming
• Reticular Activating System –filter sensory info 15
Humming Breath Chant
One hand on my belly, I let it rest,
I bring the other hand up to my chest,
I find a pair of buttons beneath the shelf
And Huuuuuummmmmm
To calm myself.
I move my eyes slowly
From the left to the right,
Heart calm, mind clear
Body strong, eyes bright! Humming Breath Video
http://vimeo.com/68339890

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 Adventure Skill #3
Monkey Wisdom*
March in place, alternately touching
hands to opposite knees to energize
body and wake up brain.
Enhances:
• Crossing the visual/auditory/
kinesthetic/tactile midlines
• Hemispheric integration
• Binocular vision
• Binaural hearing
• Left right coordination
• Stability in the walking gait *Cross Crawl in Brain Gym®

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 Monkey Wisdom Chant
I am healthy
I play every day
I drink lots of water
I don’t float away
I rest when I’m tired
I breathe when I’m mad
I eat fruits & veggies
Monkey Wisdom Video
‘Cause they are rad
http://vimeo.com/68339892
Red, orange, yellow, green
At every meal and in between!

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 Adventure Skill #4
Deep Down Wisdom*
1. Cross your ankles and wrists.
Clasp hands and rest them at
your sternum.
2. Breathe and think of something
or someone you love.
Supports:
• Emotional centering
• Grounding
• Respiration
*Hook ups in Brain Gym®
• Self-control and boundaries
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Deep Down Wisdom Video
http://vimeo.com/68339891

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 Story in Motion
Purpose: To inspire early literacy, movement,
creativity, and a love of learning.  To integrate self-
care/self-regulation skills with characters from the
story. Reading supports a wide range of positive
outcomes, from phonological awareness to social
emotional learning and self-awareness.

Materials: The recommended lesson book or a book of

your choice
 
Standards: PDH, SED, ATL, LD, LKS, CAE, SSKS, ELD
 
Procedure: Read each book at least twice in the
course of the week
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 When Sofie Gets Angry –
Really, Really Angry
• Integrate movement with social-emotional learning.
• Read one page at a time and invite a re-enactment.
• Acknowledge and encourage creative movement.
• Follow up with reflection & discussion: Empower Me!
• Practice/Reinforce use of adventure or any other
mind-body tools that empower kids to experience
shifting their “state” through-out the day.

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 Story in Motion Options
• Make up your own story – tell as you demo movement
• Choose storybook
– Kids act out the story as you read
– Read a section, then invite creative movement:
• Can you be a worm, mouse, cat? How do you move?
• If you were a turtle/beetle, stuck on your back, show what
would you do to get unstuck?
• How does _______ move when happy? Angry? Sad? Scared?
– Choreograph poses and movements first
• Integrate with social-emotional learning /SR Tools
• Choose yoga cards/poses – let kids create a story
– Yoga Pretzel/Planet Decks
– Yoga Kit for Kids (Imaginazium)
Books for Stories in Motion
• Any Book by Eric Carle
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
• Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
• My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• My Friends by Taro Gomi
• Cool Down & Work Through Anger by Cheri J. Meiners
• Whistle for Willie By Ezra Jack Keats
• Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
• William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow
• Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
• Here’s Bojangles –Think of That! by Leo & Diane Dillon
• Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback 24
Sample Empower Me! Questions
• What was the problem in our story today?
• How did Sophie feel? What emotion?
• What did she do to express that emotion?
• What did she do to comfort & shift herself?
• Have you ever felt really, really angry?
• How did you express yourself? Other options?
• How did you comfort & shift yourself?
• What tools have we learned that might help you
next time you are angry?
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 Self-Care Review
Drink Water every 20-30 min throughout the day

Humming Breath – to calm and focus at

circle time, after outside time, before or
after transitions

Monkey Wisdom – to energize as well as

prepare for gross and fine motor skill
activities and reading

Deep Down Wisdom – to ground and center

when upset, angry, frightened

*Ordered to coincide with PACE from the

Brain Gym® Program 26
 More Movement Games
Nature Kids – embody & express various aspects of
nature found in weather such as rain, wind, storms,
snow, sun, rainbows – as a way to move, play,
energize, and integrate body and mind.

Be a Rainbow – embody the colors and qualities of a

rainbow in order to connect with “coherence” = feeling
balanced, alert, clear, kind, caring, open, and creative.
(“Incoherence”= stressed, out of sorts, angry, sad, shut
down, scattered, tired, etc.)
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 Rainbow Poem
Red – I’m powerful
Orange – I’m joyful
Yellow – I know I can
Green – I’m caring
Blue – I tell the truth
Indigo – I’m smart
Violet – Understanding and loving of ….
All my parts! Rainbow Body Video
https://vimeo.com/33815681
How to make an origami rainbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzF8jqik8FE28
 Research Highlights

•Decrease off-task behavior in preschool age children (Dr.

Jennifer Dustow, Autism Project, 2009)

•Improve creative problem solving, language skills, and memory

(Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., The Cognitive Benefits of Play: Effects on
the Learning Brain, 2008)

•Increases attention span and ability to ignore distractions and

concentrate effectively
•Enhances behavioral regulation, metacognition, and overall
global executive function (Flook, Smalley, Kitil, Galla, Kaiser-
Greenland, Locke, Ishijima, Kasari, 2010, Napoli, Krech, & Holley,
2005)
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•Unifies and integrates mind/body experience (Journal of Cognitive and
Behavioral Practice 2009)

•Organizes whole-brain function for optimal learning (Dennison and

Hannaford, 1999)

•Improves executive functions (Science 2011)

•Concentrates BDNF in the hippocampus, enhances long term memory
retention (Ratey, 2008)

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• Over-rides the body’s physiological response to stress

• Stimulates the release of BDNF, which grows the brain (Ratey,

2008)

• Improves the cognitive control of attention

• Enhances academic performance (Hillman, CH, Pontifex, MB, Raine,

LB, Castelli, DM, Hall, EE, Kramer, AF, 2009)

•Focus attention and engage participant in an empathic response,

creating a significant physiological effect on the body and on
behavioral choices. (Paul Zak, 2013)

•Activate episodic memory and light up the whole brain for learning
(Dr. John Medina, Brain Rules, 2010)
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Bibliography
Paul Dennison, Ph.D. & Gail Dennison. Brain Gym® 101: Balance for Daily Life, Brain Gym®
and Me: Reclaiming the Pleasure of Learning . Ventura, CA: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc,
2007.

Paul Dennison, Ph.D. & Gail Dennison. Teacher’s Edition Revised. Ventura, CA: Edu-
Kinesthetics, Inc, 2010 www.braingym.com

Healy, Jane. The Growing Mind.

http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/future/creating_the_future/crfut_healy.cfm

Goldberg, Elkhonon. The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001.

Hannaford, Carla. The Dominance Factor: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain,
Hand & Foot Can Improve Your Learning. Salt Lake City, Utah: Great River Books,
1997,

Pearce, Joseph C. Evolution’s End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence. New
York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992. http://ttfuture.org/jcp/front

Sally Goddard Blythe - http://www.sallygoddardblythe.co.uk/index.php

Dr. John Medina - http://www.brainrules.net/

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