Coping Skills/Strategies: Ways to work through uncomfortable feelings/situations.
Self- Talk: can be used to alert ourselves and others to how we are feeling. This can be done by using a whisper voice or with an internal "thought bubble". We are acknowledging our current emotion. May also be used to affirm positive feelings/situations (i.e. "I feel happy when I ride my bike with a friend.")
Anger = "I feel angry, I need to calm down."
Sadness = "I feel sad, I will work to feel better."
Visualizing:
Close your eyes and think about a favorite memory or place you love.
Encourage students to think about how this memory/place feels, smells and sounds.
Open your eyes once you begin to feel more calm/content.
Repeat as needed.
Deep Breathing: Squeezing an Orange:
Students will visualize an orange in their upward facing palm.
They will squeeze their hand into a fist while breathing in deeply through their nose.
They will release the squeeze and breath out deeply from their mouth.
Repeat as needed.
Flowers and Candles:
Students will visualize smelling a bouquet of flowers, breathing in deeply through their nose.
Students will release this breath through their mouth by visualizing blowing out birthday candles.
Students will be read the book “Little Big Emotions” by Deb Mills. A discussion with occur about our "big emotions" and ways that we might cope with any unwanted feelings.
Students will then have the opportunity to discuss why we might use coping skills, coping skills we might already use and a few examples of some others. We will talk about the importance of finding coping skills that work for them. One that we will practice as a group is called 4-7-8 breathing.