We have all heard children describe their emotions in relation to a physical space in their body. When sad or lonely, a child might say, “My heart hurts”, when nervous or excited we often hear the phrase, “I have butterflies in my stomach”, or when overwhelmed with joy it may feel like “My chest is exploding”. These metaphors have long existed in human language, but are there are more to them than simple metaphors? Is it possible that there are universal, physical locations of emotions in the human body? A growing number of scientists seem to think so.
So why is this important and how can you teach it to your students? Using mindfulness as a lens, we can help students to first recognize various physical sensations in their body and then to reflect on what particular emotion or event each physical sensation is related to. Thought this may not seem like much, awareness is the first step to change in any situation. If we want to help students regulation their emotions we must first help them be aware that they are having emotions. The human body happens to be a perfectly tuned early warning system to keep us in touch with our emotional state. Through increased awareness comes increased self-regulation. Helping a student through a difficult emotional experience could really be as simple as asking, “Where do you feel it in your body?”.
What will students Learn and Do during this Lesson?
Students will be asked the following questions:
"Can we feel emotions in our body?"
"What does it mean to feel emotions in your body?"
"What is an example of feeling an emotion in your body?"
We will have a brief discussion about the physical process of "feeling" our different emotions in our bodies.
We will then engage in a Body Scan which is an effective method for increasing self-awareness and self-regulation while promoting deep relaxation.
BODY SCAN SCRIPT
Close your eyes and focus your attention on your breath. Clear you mind ofall other thoughts. Allow your attention to wander throughout your body. Imagine that your brain is a super advanced scanner that can sense any tension or tightness inside your body. If you find any tight spots, release this tension with a deep breath.
Now use your scanner to bring all of your attention to your toes and feet. Focus all of your attention on the sensations and feelings in your toes. Squeeze or curl your toes, then take a deep breath and allow your toes to relax".
The script will be repeated from toes to head and will include legs, stomach, chest, shoulders, neck and face.
Now, try to remember a time this week when you felt a strong emotion. It might have been a happy emotion or it might have been a sad emotion. Remember what happened, but most importantly, remember how it felt in your body. Where did you feel it? Did anything feel stressed? Did it feel warm or cold? How was it different from how you normally feel?
Once you know where you felt your emotion, open your eyes and look at the Body Map worksheet I gave you. Try to imagine what that emotion felt like. Did it have a color? Did it have a shape? Was it big or small? Did it feel like something you have felt before?
Now we are going to take some time to draw our emotions on our Body Maps.
Sometimes, you might feel like you have a really sticky emotion - an emotion that just won't go away. All you need to do to get unstuck is to simply notice where this emotion is in your body. Once we start to notice where we feel certain emotions, we can recognize these signs early and calm ourselves down before having a tantrum or getting angry. For example, if I notice my fists clenching up, that can be my signal to take a break and cool down. Remember it is just as important to notice easy emotions as it is to notice hard or sticky emotions.
A video to help explain the science behind mapping emotions.