Peace through Education: It is Possible!

Yesterday, I spent the day giving workshops to teachers on ways to use yoga in the classroom. These were preschool and toddler teachers, so their job in big ways sets up the foundation of thinking and understanding the world for the youngsters. I was a preschool and toddler teacher before a yoga teacher, so this was the perfect group for me to be leading.

Many of the teachers had questions regarding how to handle children when they were very angry and acting out. I explained that children benefit from practice (as do all people!!!!) and need to learn the skills to cope with strong feelings and the practice putting those skills to work. Kids can be taught on a daily basis how to notice feelings in themselves and others by gaining awareness. Ask them what being angry feels like? Do they notice it in their belly? If not, then where in the body? They need to know what anger looks like. Ask them to show their angry face and body.  You can draw attention to the raised shoulders and balled fists and scrunched face. Give them space to feel angry and the tools to let the anger pass through them. NEVER stifle or devalue the feelings of any person. It is okay to feel any emotion. You are not angry, you are feeling anger pass through you. You are not sad, you notice sadness moving through you! Hold them responsible for handling their emotions appropriately.

Step 1) Ask how do I feel? Do I feel it a lot or a little? Have them show by opening their arms up a lot or a little bit
step 2) What can I do?

If they feel any strong feeling (even happiness is a strong feeling if it is overwhelming) have them identify the feeling and how strong they feel it.
Then have them relax the body and take some slow, deep breaths.
This is all it take to move the brain from a state of panic/fight or flight to a state of relaxation and calm collected-ness.
Children  can do turtle pose (legs together in badokonasana aka butterfly pose, hands slide under legs and head to feet) to get quiet space even in a crowded area. Any forward fold is calming, remember that yogis! :) Adults, you can do this too!!

As a result of this exercise, the teachers experienced the shift from the busy and emotional state of mind to a relaxed one. Simply by identifying they felt something, breathing and forward folding. I recommended they practice in circle time with the kids frequently so that practice can be put to work in real life situations. It won't work immediately, but when reinforced, it will be learned. Children want to know how to behave, crave structure, and enjoy being in the know. And knowing means they will implement it and grow into adults who notice their emotions, don't identify themselves as "angry people" or "mad people" but as people dealing with anger passing through them who then respond with techniques to calm and therefore not go into attack mode!

As I left the workshops, it was 3:24. The bombings had just taken place at the marathon. I had been at the event all day and didn't hear about the tragedy until after leaving. I began to reflect on the violence and asked myself why some people commit violent acts. Imagine if the person/people responsible had been trained to not let emotions take over?

I am sure that education and practice of self awareness is the path to perpetual peace and loving kindness. I know that the education can start at a very young age, having spent 13 years in early education and seen first hand that children DO LEARN  with LOTS AND LOTS OF PRACTICE. I learned more in my stint teaching preschool about myself than I had previously learned in 20 something years simply learning to notice and identify feelings and then figuring out what to do. Since then, it has been a beautiful path to self awareness with yoga and continued self study and, of course, PRACTICE.

We as adults and role models must behave all the time in a way that shows peaceful thoughts, words and actions. The children are always watching and they learn from our actions beyond words or intentions. Even if we mess up and yell at the kids, show the process of coming  back into the body and calming down with breath, acknowledge the mistake and correct it. Doing so, you can also learn to be more peaceful inside and out.

I am committed to raising a generation of youngsters who are emotionally literate, who can identify feelings and allow them space to move through them, who do not label themselves based on the presence of feelings, but use awareness and coping skills such as breath, yoga and self-awareness/observation/noticing.

I believe that by repeating these skills regularly, along with demonstrating and having standards of kind thoughts, kind words, and kind heart, we can overcome violence. It is a time of great awakening in this world. Are you going to participate in the shift to peace and wellness?