Art Activity
Zentangle doodles of the letter of their name
It’s interesting that several girls asked at the end, what they are going to do with the art project. Last session we actually did something. As it, I think it is not showing your art but it is talking about how you felt during the quiet time of art. Each session starts out a little noisy but each time it is quieter. Ta has a cast now and asked me to sign it but I did not ask about it. I see Ci always doing a wonderful job, and she tends to gravitate toward Av, the other new girl. They are quiet and they do the project really well. I recall the surprise was Ja doing a beautiful job at zentangle. Something she did not take seriously in the past. Su and I went out into the hallway and shared our insecurities and realized that we were lacking in self-compassion. That was shared a little later, but the girls do not tend to pay much attention to our self-discoveries… but something they do pay attention to. More on that later.
Opening Meditation: Loving-Kindness for Ourselves
The girls were about the same. I tried a tapping exercise to calm them down which I find helpful when I feel stress. My and Ja looked like they were refusing to meditate but were not disruptive to others. Check-in later was pretty good and Ja said she really felt the tapping on the top of her head, not painful but she was aware of it strongly. No one is jumping up and down about l-K. My opinion is L-K is very hard to do. I don’t think the girls resonate with it. Talaya liked Su’s meditation vibe.
What’s Going On?
Started with going around the circle. Each girl read one line of the Principles. I asked if they wanted to modify them and they add the following:
- Embrace your thoughts – Participate, no idea is wrong.
- Be direct. Use assertive communication.
- Use your skills.
They all seems to have done one of the suggested mindful practices and answered what it felt like to do this. Wondering why they said their mind did not wander while brushing their teeth. One did say she tried eating mindfully and the other said she was too hungry to eat mindfully. While Ta was criticized, Su and I feel that she does participate more than most and is enthusiastic. She mentioned she is working on changing her behavior.
Self-Compassion
Some interaction discussion about the three elements of Mindful-Self-Compassion (MSC). The above flip chart was nice as anything in writing reinforces consistency in the message.
Self-Criticism and Safety
Sponge Bobette and the Inner Critic. A handout with the following points:
The inner critic is trying to keep us safe and protects us, even if it isn’t all that effective.
- The inner critic motivates ourselves to improve.
- Helps us behave better and avoid further criticism.
- Lowers expectations so we don’t disappoint ourselves.
- Makes other feel better so they like us more.
This was a subtle success, I think. Especially, the girls dove into behaviors they want to change . Of the lists I saw, three were exceptional and one was sad. Below is the image.
Copy of Flip Chart for Session
