Student Wellness

• Close your eyes and imagine your favorite place - it’s like taking a mini vacation wherever you are!

• Think of your favorite things - what brings you joy?

• Name animals alphabetically (alligator, bear, cow, dog, etc…)

• Squeeze something (play dough, clay, silly putty, your fists, a stress ball)

• Get a cold drink of water

• Give yourself a hug - squeeze tight!

• Sing the words to a song you love

• Take deep breaths

*Triangle Breathing: Breathe in for 3 seconds; hold for 3 seconds; and breathe out for 3 seconds

Mindful Eating

In this exercise, you will learn how to eat mindfully. The example used is an orange, but you can eat mindfully with anything!

Here’s what to do:

1. Start by holding an orange and rolling it in your hand, noticing how it feels.

2. Hold the orange close to your nose and take a sniff. Think about what it smells like.

3. Pay attention to what it looks like and what it feels like.

4. Peel the orange mindfully (slowly), and stay present.

5. Taste the orange and notice the flavor, texture, juiciness, etc.

Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing is another simple exercise you can try. You will focus on breathing, but refrain from forcing to breathe in a certain way.

Follow these steps:

1. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.

2. Breathe normally and notice how it feels; pay attention to the air going in and out of your lungs.

3. Notice how your breath moves your body; does your chest and/or your belly rise and fall as you breathe?

4. Sit for a few minutes, paying attention to your breathing, and become as relaxed as you can be.

5. If your mind starts to wander from the task at hand, gently guide it back to your breath.

Mindful Walking (while practicing social distancing)

Mindful walks are great ways to practice and maintain mindfulness in your everyday life.

Use these four easy steps:

1. Pick up one foot and take a slow-motion step forward. Notice what you have to do to stay balanced.

2. Walk in slow motion, one step at a time. Pay attention to how your arms, legs, and feet move as you walk.

3. Breathe in and out in time with your steps. Stay relaxed but keep your attention focused on your breath and your steps, working in tandem.

4. If your mind starts to wander, bring it gently back to your slow-motion walking.

Mindful Word

This exercise instructs you to choose a word that connects back to mindfulness and use it as an anchor to keep you present, calm, and collected. Teenagers should find it easy to follow and helpful in maintaining their mindfulness.

Here are the steps:

1. Think of a word that seems calm or soothing to you, like “peace”, “love”, “sunlight”, or “calm.”

2. Think the word to yourself, saying it silently in your own mind. Say it again as you breathe, once when you breathe in and once when you breathe out. Stay focused on the word.

3. If/when your mind begins to wander, gently bring it back to your word.

4. Challenge yourself to do this for one minute. If that seems too easy, try five minutes!

Body Scan Script

This script walks you through a classic mindfulness meditation called the “body scan.” It involves doing a mental scan of your body to note any areas where you are holding on to tension or storing your stress.

You will start with cultivating awareness through your breath, then you will move to your head, face, neck, and shoulders. Next, you will move down to your arms and hands, and continue until you reach your feet. As you go, you will notice how your body feels in each area.

At the end, ask yourself this reflection question: “What information do you receive when checking in with your body?”

You can find this script here.

Mindfulness of Anger

This script is a useful one for anyone struggling with anger. As such, it’s a great choice for children who are having behavioral problems or lashing out, although you may need to tweak it a bit to make it relevant and appropriate for children.

The script will walk you through bringing yourself to greater awareness, being present in your body, breathing mindfully, finding your anger, and allowing yourself to express it, let go of it, or both.

To read the whole script, click here.

Self-Compassion

If you want to help your child build their self-compassion, this script is a great place to start. It is a version of the popular “loving-kindness” variety of meditation that is particularly focused on cultivating compassion for the self.

It opens with the usual mindfulness meditation practices: improving awareness, becoming present, checking in with your body, and breathing mindfully.

Next, it guides you through identifying a mistake, a failure, or a part of your personality that you don’t feel great about. It shows you how to accept the emotions that come with it and allow them to simply be, without fighting them.

Finally, this script will walk you through giving yourself a break and offering yourself love and understanding. Towards the end, you will repeat some phrases or mantras to help you appreciate yourself, including “May I be safe. May I be peaceful. May I be kind to myself. May I accept myself as I am.”

You can find this script here, and access MORE scripts and other mindfulness exercises here.

• Mindfulness Video for Teens

How to protect your mental health during COVID-19:

• Recognize that your anxiety (and all other feelings) are normal!

• Create healthy distractions

• Find new ways to connect with your friends

• Focus on YOU

• Feel your feelings

• Be kind to yourself and others

Click here to see these self-care tools in more detail.

• KidsHealth has age-appropriate resources for mental and physical health.

• MindYeti has several engaging free mindfulness meditations.

• Keep a drawing/writing journal about how you are feeling while at home.

• Use Coping Strategy Activity to outline healthy vs. unhealthy coping strategies

• My Bio Poem is an outline that can be used to describe yourself and your feelings.

• Smiling Mind App is a free app that has various guided meditation options which can help eliminate your negative thoughts and focus on positivity. This app is evidence based and has various curriculum that could be used in classrooms. (This requires a device that uses Apple or Android) .

• Create gratitude jar and add statements to the jar at the end of the day.

• Goal Exploration Activity supports student outline goals in different areas.

• Identity and Diversity Lesson: This lesson provides an opportunity for students to learn more about Gen Z, reflect on their identities in order to create self-portraits/ quotes that represent themselves and reflect on images, quotes by a wide diversity of this generation.

Therapy and Wellness Apps

What's Up? is a free app that uses some of the best CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) methods to help you cope with depression, anxiety, anger and more! With a beautiful design, colorful layout, and simple headings, you can find what you need in seconds.

7 Cups offers free anonymous emotional support and counseling from trained active listeners. There are real listeners available 24/7 and it is completely free.

Teen Talk is a free iPhone app where teens can get support for whatever they may be dealing with from another (trained) teen. It is a safe and confidential.

Relaxation and Mindfulness Apps

Hear and Now measures your body stress by taking the pulse in your finger through your phone's camera. You can set daily reminders for deep breathing exercises.

MindShift app helps to decrease anxiety. This app helps teens work through their anxiety rather than avoiding issues that are causing it.

Aura walks you through 3-minute meditations to help calm and de-stress. You let Aura know how you are feeling, and the app chooses the best meditation for you. Aura also offers mood tracking and daily reminders for breathing exercises.

Headspace uses a series of cartoons to illustrate meditation principles, full of "guided meditations" — audio sessions where one of the company's co-creators leads listeners on a journey of contemplation.

Calming Coloring App

Colorfy is a free coloring app. Coloring can be relaxing and is a great creative outlet for teens and adults. Coloring can help to ground and de-stress for those with anxiety.