Resilience
&
Social Emotional Learning
What is Resilience?
Resilience is the innate and learned ability to do and be your best, to recover from challenging events, and to return to a state of balance after adversity or excitement. It is both something we are born with and something we learn and can practice.
Resilience-building focuses on the whole person: body, brain, mind, heart, gut, spirit, soul, thoughts, and emotions. In our curriculum, The Way We Be Together,* there are five interrelated benevolent qualities we focus on to bolster resilience: kindness, generosity, gratitude, empathy, and compassion, as well as seven key abilities: believing in your strengths, recognizing your needs, self-soothing, asking for and accepting help, shifting perspective to the positive, recognizing our common humanity, finding humor & laughing.
Body and brain resilience practices are grounded in the science of nervous system physiology (function), and the emerging science of polyvagal theory. Physical resilience is the ability to “shift gears” in the nervous system from a fight/flight/freeze response to a restored/rested/ready response. This physical shift directly impacts the sensations we experience, which directly affects our thoughts and emotions.
In the pictures above, Miss Amy is using a hoberman sphere (or breathing ball) to practice slow, deep breathing to regulate the nervous system. A pre-school student practices moving and singing to bring her nervous system into balance.
Making Space for Presence - In this article Amy Secrist explores the science of emotions, the research on social aspects of teaching, as well as the work of embodiment and how it can support us in moments of difficulty or overwhelm. At the end you’ll find an offering to create space for empathy & compassion for yourself & others.
Wired to Connect - In this article Amy defines the terms Interpersonal & Neurobiology to better understand how building relationships in the classroom, and in our personal lives, can have a profoundly positive impact not only on learning and job satisfaction, but on all of our social experiences. There’s even a bonus section on mirror neurons followed by takeaways and games to help you practice growing positive relationships.
A Note from Miss Amy
Hello, Friends! How are you feeling right now? Whatever you're feeling, it's okay. Are you ready to practice noticing, breathing, and moving to keep yourself feeling awesome? Me, too!
I'm looking forward to growing our resilience skills together this year - can't wait till the next time we get to practice together. :)
Resources
The resources below are intended to offer guided practice opportunities to increase:
Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Emotion Regulation
Nervous System Regulation
Social-Awareness
Relationship Skills
Responsible Decision Making
Video & Audio Recordings
While the categories below suggest student, caregiver, and educator, all video & audio guides can be used by everyone.
The student videos contain very short lessons explaining the practices and then practicing together. The caregiver & educator videos offer longer explanations and practices.
All audio recordings are guided practices (without foundational explanations) that you can use over and over. They assume you've been introduced to the practices by a teacher (or one of the videos), understand why they are beneficial, and that you know how to do them.
Thank you for practicing!
Caregiver Videos
Caregiver Audios
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Educator Audios
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