“Mindful breathing calms the guard puppy.” ~ this was said by an 11 year old boy in the Mindful Minis class yesterday.
I just love it when children take the learning and own it!
We were talking about the effects of stress on the different parts of the body:
🌵Heart – beats faster, works harder, increased blood pressure
🌵Lungs – we breathe faster, possible hyperventilation, tightness in chest, panic attacks
🌵Stomach – feeling of “butterflies”, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of nutrient absorption, stomach ulcers
🌵Muscles – tight, stiff, knots, limited movement, heavy feeling
🌵Brain – short-term memory loss, anxiety, depression, insomnia
And then I shared the beautiful story of the mindful owl and how mindful breathing can help us feel calm when we notice we are stressed. In this story, the amygdala in our brain, which controls the fight or flight hormones, is represented by a guard puppy that barks at any danger (stress). And one of the boys in the class piped up “mindful breathing calms the guard puppy!”.
Yes, that’s exactly it! ❤️