Abby Aloni - Bernard Zell in Chicago

Hello and welcome!!

Janet Sear BJE ECC Chicago

Julie Spitz Denver CO

Juli Klein form Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings on Hudson NY

Faye Tonkonogy Judy Gordon Early Learning Center Temple Israel Natick Ma

Hello from NJ!

Hi everyone! I'm Chelsey Cohen, Miami, FL

Marci Sperling Flynn - Oak Park IL

Hello! Jessica Robins, Mandel JCC, Cleveland

Lori-An Penchansky -Temple Sholom in Broomall (Philadelphia) PA

Stephanie Lerner, Temple Shir Tikva, Wayland MA

Sasha Kopp from The Jewish Education Project in NYC

Mary, so nice to see you!!!

Sheila Purdin, Denver, Colorado

Tami

—Mary Passell getting us started today with some words of Torah

—Genesis 2:7. Our breath is not our own—God blew life into our nostrils. We were given breath.

—Our inbreathe is the out breath of the plants and the trees and vice versa.

—Seeing our breath as a source of wonder and amazement.

—When we bring full attention to our breath, we come fully to life.

RELIEF

—Word or phrase you associate with breath/breathing?

strength

pause

life

energy

calm

calm

Rhythm

clear

peace

joy

life

—Short breathing exercise.

—Thinking about text, grateful for being breathed into this life

As your mind wanders, just come back to the breath

Feel yourself being breathed

Each breath we are given comes from the whole world

Very calm and at peace

—How are you feeling right now? What did that exercise bring up for you?

peaceful

relaxed

peaceful and focused

centered

slowing down

centered

oneness with G d

—As crisis leaders, imp for us to take that time to check in and breathe

Thanks, Mary! You have a great voice for meditation!

Thank you Mary- so beautiful!

Kol hakavod, Mary!

Thank you, Mary! That was wonderful!

Thanks, Mary. That felt great!

—Mindfulness as a tool for strengthening our mental and emotional health in ECE

Will we be receiving copies of the slides?

—First part: focus on you; second part: focus on children.

The slides and recording will be available on jparadigm.org later this week!

—Mindfulness-based PD for educators

—Take the next 3 minutes to focus just on yourself, as Maura leads us

—A brief reflection after a technique is helpful.

Calmness

centered

I felt my muscles relax

Centered

tingling in my fingers

(I noticed how cold it is in this room—my legs and feet are working hard to stay warm. I noticed I felt more alert when done)

tension to relaxation

Peaceful

calm

—What is mindfulness?

—When you are mindful, you are paying attention to the present moment. Don’t want to judge yourself. Want to just observe yourself, with kindness. Understand own thoughts and feelings so that you can respond to life with intention.

—The woman with the busy mind is mindful when she can acknowledge that her mind is full, without judgment

—mindfulness as a superpower

—“In our response lies our growth and our freedom” —Viktor Frankl

—Share a takeaway so far:

It is important to be in the moment and take a break from stressful thoughts

We can still feel feelings which making conscious choices in our behavior

take time to clear my mind

keep it simple which makes it accessible

We can have feeling but how we act upon them is our choice

My mind is too full all the time!

Space is our power to choose our response

I don’t have to be the porcupine yelling, ahh! I could forge a pause instead

Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean your mind is not busy. It’s thinking about how we manage the business.

—“managing this business of living"

—Becoming more aware of the early indicators of stress

choosing a response with greater intention

—Stress isn’t always a bad thing. But when it’s continuous, it begins to change your brain

—Meditation and exercise decrease stress and improve your memory

Qs: How do you experience stress mentally, physically, and emotionally? And how does stress show up for you in your work as an educator?

Discussion: How could mindfulness benefit you and your school community?

I think that the school community could benefit from some shared experiences around mindfulness.

—I agree, Jenna—I am thinking about how to incorporate into staff meetings (at an adult level) and also to teach parents

—Now we are entering the portion of how we can engage in mindfulness with young children.

energizing

—Share a word or two about how that felt

joyful:)

Contagious

part of me didn't want to stop smiling.

sweet!

like a warm hug

It’s like yawns! You just can’t help doing it if someone else does it!

Same @LisaPlotkin!

I felt connected to all of you

I feel taller and lighter

connection

—A practice for changing mood

(I find that ‘hese photos are also really calming. They add some perspective)

—Teacher and child benefits are similar. Developing sense of present moment awareness. Developing greater ability to tap into what is going on in our bodies, minds, and around us. With this sense of awareness we can regulate our emotions, manage the experience of having an emotion.

Self regulation then allows us to better attune to the emotions and needs of others

--Children are relying on us as emotional anchors.

—Children as sponges absorbing all of this

—We know that in general educators are stressed right now. Imp to give educators tools to increase their sense of wellbeing and resilience

—How can children benefit from practicing mindfulness? Learning self regulation skills. Learning how to pause and take tie to notice what is going on inside of their bodies. Through this will develop emotional literacy. Will learn to name when they need to take a break or create a shift.

—Talking to children about self care is something that can begin so early.

—Instilling this understanding of caring for emotional and mental health from a young age. Mindfulness can be a wonderful way into learning about our own self care and communicate our own needs.

—A focus on flexibility is what is needed here as we lead these practices with children.

—Mindfulness can involve movement and sensory experiences.

—Modifying the techniques will involve flexibility to meet the children where they are

—from 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length

—Modeling is v important.

—eg gestures, slowness, demonstrating with your body

Slowing your pace and tone

Using your own voice, but softening and slowing down

To communicate that that during mindfulness time, things will look and feel different than the rest of the day, though over time can create a cultural shift.

—Closing eyes may not feel safe to some.

Being in physical body or in silence are not comfortable for some, esp those who have expereinced trauma. Choices is key.

Incorporating pictures, nature sounds, music

—Utilizing reflection questions after the exercise. To get the children to think beyond the practice and connect not their lives outside of school.

—With younger children, important to keep it simple and repetitive.

—Encouraging at-home practice, a good way for parents and children to connect with children and learning about what is happening in the classroom.

—We will share these links/handouts after the session at Jparadigm.org/series

—Maura@calmclassroom.com

Will share in the notes form the session as well

Great question!!

—Please add any questions in the chat.

I also think it’s an amazing technique to include for virtual learning too!

Robin - we have had discussions about what your eyes look like when you smile. We have them look in a mirror and then identify what they see. WE then notice that when we do the smile mindfulness activity

with masks on!

Thank you abby great idea!

Thank you!!

thank you

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBMLdPFaJrO-BhS0tCK4uyzfxBus9Y2w/view?usp=sharing

Thank you! Another wonderful Paradigm offering!

Thank you

Thank you!