Calling GREAT Educators!

Calling all great, forward thinking educators!!

I am looking for motivated, emotionally aware teachers who would consider running/piloting a simple Values program in the classroom for me?

The program is called Kids InTouch or the KIT, and includes the resources to cover a one hour session, once a week for one term, activity, affirmation, visualisation EASY! plus FREE second edition ‘E I ED’ Developing Emotional Intelligence in Children and Adding Value to Your Classroom’. It also comes with a simple feedback sheet to be completed at the end of term and collected by me.

At this stage the KIT is digital but will be available in the future in hardcopy as a the KIT for Educators and the KIT for Families.

I WOULD LOVE to hear from you…. the feedback will be part of our campaign to convince The Dept of Ed. to include a set values program into our school curriculum.

A MUCH needed addition to reach all kids especially those who might normally slip through the gap for a bright, sustainable and bully free future.

arna@theiamprogram.com
The I AM Program

From Sad to Happy

When we are having a negative thought or find ourselves stuck in a stream of uncomfortable thought/ feelings, there is a simple technique for regaining our sense of balance and calm.

Find the feeling you are having on the emotion scale and acknowledge this feeling in your body.

This may mean you need to sit and feel the ‘bad’ feeling for a moment and make an intention to change your mind; affirm your intention with a simple affirmation, ‘I AM willing to change’.

Look for a thought that feels slightly better than the one you are having.

For example if you feel angry at your partner, instead of thinking ‘I am angry’ or ‘It is his fault’ you may think something along the lines of ‘he has nice eyes’ or ‘it’s only one moment ‘ or ‘we do the best we can, with what we know’.

With little, better feeling thoughts, moment by moment we lift ourselves out of our negative holding pattern.

This could also be viewed as an effective forgiveness technique.

One emotion at a time we head toward JOY!

Scale depicted from apex to rock bottom

Joy/Knowledge/Freedom/Love/Appreciation Passion
Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness

Positive Expectation/Belief Optimism

Hopefulness

Contentment

Boredom

Pessimism

Frustration/Irritation/Impatience

Overwhelming Disappointment

Doubt

Worry

Blame

Discouragement

Anger

Revenge

Hatred/Rage

Jealousy

Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness

Fear/Guilt/Depression/Despair/Powerless

It isn’t always easy to go from sadness to happiness, BUT we can use the scale of emotions to help us take one step at a time.

I AM

choosing positive thoughts, creating new attitudes and enjoying a better life! 

Free I AM A Rainbow ~ I AM Love Meditation Download

The I AM Program and Lorraine from Teach Children Meditation have combined our efforts to produce a FREE download for you and your children.

Providing tools to children to help them find their inner peace and calm is a lifetime gift.

Lorraine has a beautiful voice, very easy to listen to, I suggest this as a bedtime ritual with your children.

it would be amazing to see it being used in the classroom at least once a week for a more peaceful playground and as a family connection exercise.

However you choose to use this meditation I KNOW you will enjoy it and your family WILL benefit.

With love from the I AM Program and Feel Good Therapies.

I AM A RAINBOW ~ I AM LOVE

Westboro Baptist Church are Getting Away with BULLYING!

If the Westboro Baptist ‘Church’ intends to picket funerals of children I do believe they need to be arrested for disturbing the peace or inciting a riot.

It truly is NOT freedom of speech/first amendment stuff to cause emotional turmoil to others.

It is Pre-meditated emotional BULLYING!

If we wouldn’t allow it in the playground it shouldn’t be allowed on the streets.

 

Using fear to manipulate others is not a tactic that belongs to any true God but only to the separated human mind.

These Westboro people are misguided publicity hounds….don’t stand by and let it happen, SandyHook.

Say NO to BULLYING.

Why does Violence happen and HOW do we change it?

I’m a mummy and my heart breaks.

I am saddened that other mummy’s and daddy’s and grandparents and brothers and sisters are hurting.

I dearly want to fix it for everyone.

Why do we lash out? We need to personalise the question… why are people dying all over the world in violence?

Do truly happy and aware people cause pain to others?

I think the answer to the last question is a resounding NO so the next question might be,

Why are we all searching for happiness so desperately? All the happiness and love quotes in social media are indicative of a kind of desperation a lacking of our inner contentment and happiness.

and FINALLY

How do we bring happiness and awareness to MORE of us… HOW do we get happiness and awareness to evolve into a natural expectation for one’s life?

Somewhere in the busy ness and stimulation of our journey as a planet we have created a state of mind that doesn’t include happiness as a priority, and a direct result of this neglect is frustration/mental confusion and violence.

So simply, it is time to re-prioritise.

First step RENEGOTIATE our school curriculum to prioritise EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Which is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage your emotions in positive and constructive ways.

 

It is about switching on or bringing synergy to both
hemispheres of the brain for clarity of mind and solution orientated thinking!

 

Emotional Intelligence is about recognizing your own emotional state, the emotional states of others and communicating with empathy and compassion.

 

Incorporating Emotional Intelligence Education into your home, classroom or community is

 

          E~ empathy, expression, excellence

 

          A~ awareness, acceptance, appreciation

 

          S~ self-esteem, success, sustainability

 

          Y~ your world, your tomorrow

SERIOUSLY it is time to consciously and actively direct the growth of our youth to reduce outbreaks of violent frustration such as the Newton tragedy and other horrendous moments in our life on Earth.

 

 

Food Choices for a Happier Christmas

In all my years as a parent the best festive days with children are those that start with fruit instead of chocolate!!

 

When I was a younger mum, I was very  innocent and well ignorant  actually about nutrition and the effect different foods and the chemicals in them they could have on my children.

As I have matured I realise that these babies come in so pure, their little tastebuds are fresh, fruit is SO sweet, spices are so spicy.

When a preservative or flavour hits their body for the first time it’s like a bomb going off.

I am so glad I worked some of this out before these last babies came into my life, it has made our days much easier!

Food consciousness is such an important part of parenting, not that we withhold treats, sugar or whatever we are just more aware of the timing for handing them out and in manageable quantities.

I think completely withholding the treats of this world from kids can also have a negative affect… but once again it is more about the attitude than the action.

Oh parenting…. we are in a very powerful position that seems to come with a lot of responsibility….having said that it also comes equipped with the solutions, if we can slow down and breathe deeply enough to allow them to surface.

SO even though Christmas is FUN it is also highly energetic with different people/different dynamics, sugar highs and lows, fatigue from excitement, preparing food and gifts till late, and getting up before dawn!

We CAN make it a less stressful day and put out fruit, fruit juice and water in the morning, play calming or classical music if possible, encourage kids to stop every now and then during the day…. maybe even slow the pace of gift giving and give the time to truly appreciate the moment….

SUCH fun!

 

World Peace- It Starts with ONE and Ends With ONE

We all want a peaceful life whether we believe it is possible or not.

And we know we are happier when we are smiling and calm and when we feel free to be ourselves.

So as parents we need to find ways to teach children to recognise and acknowledge their emotions and to be who they feel they really are not just who we might like them to be. We need to encourage  self-expression within healthy boundaries and encourage our children to SMILE a LOT!

World Peace IS possible but we can’t look outside ourselves we really have to start within our own heart.

HERE in our home and family unit sits the ticket to peace on Earth.

Wherever there is a child there is an opportunity to affect our future in a positive and sustainable way!.

BE Peace today!

I AM the Boss of My Body Part TWO

In the second part of the workshop we are going to make up a feelings DANCE!
Instruct the children of the emotion they will be performing before you start the music.
Start with ‘we are now choosing to do a MAD Dance!’
Start the music- Everyone stomps around dancing and moving in a BIG ANGRY MAD WAY!!!

Really get into it. Say things like ‘OOOH, I FEEL SO MAD! Stomp stomp stomp!’ After a few minutes turn of the music and let everyone simmer down.
Take a few deep breaths and prepare for your SAD DANCE!
Follow with SCARED DANCE

And finally lets do a GLAD dance.
Allow the glad dance to go a little longer than the previous dances.
When the dances are over, discuss the feelings in the body.
Which feelings are the LOUDEST, BIGGEST, SMALLEST, SOFTEST?’ What feelings did the children enjoy dancing to the most?

Suggestion: If the children are older and motivated you can create a MAD SAD SCARED GLAD dance performance for the younger children in the school. Teaching what we learn about ourselves helps to lock into place the benefits, giving us a sense of purpose.

Free for YOU – I AM A Big Kid Now

I am giving away my illustrated children’s story ‘I AM A BIG Kid Now’ to any interested parent or educator.

This little story is about Bella and her Mum finding ways to deal with the emotions that are associated with Bella starting big school.

Feelings can be so strong and sometimes seem stronger than us but ultimately we are MUCH stronger than our feelings and CAN gain command of them with focus and positivity.

Hopefully my story can help families develop the emotional intelligence necessary to recognise, acknowledge and change difficult feelings into good feelings.

If you would like a copy please contact me arna@theiamprogram.com and I will send the PDF to your inbox

lots of LOVE

Arna

 

I AM The Boss of My Body Part One

 

It is important to teach kids that they have command of certain aspects of life.

A way to do this is through the body.

Learning that we can create movement and making the connection between thought and action plants the seed for ‘a thought = action’ potential in other areas of our lives.

 

In the below workshop we play with the idea of choice and movement.

By using the word ‘choice’ and ‘choose’ repetitively we plant the idea of command. Once a human feels the feeling of command it is easier to practice and to grow.

With a feeling concept of personal command we develop our emotional intelligence and naturally begin to respond more appropriately throughout our life.

In this workshop we will also also play with feeling detection and body awareness in order to bring the person back into their bodies even when negative experiences may have caused them to detach from their body early.

Workshop

Everyday we move our body in different ways.
Discuss movement with questions like ‘Can anyone think of things that we do with our body?’
We walk, bend over, jump, hop, reach for things etc Life is like a dance we are doing all the time!
With enthusiastic teacher participation we are going to explore the way we choose to move our body.

Play with yoga poses. (see Pics)

Have lots of fun, be noisy and encourage breathing.
Encourage the FEELING of being a butterfly for example

 Ask questions throughout the practice like ‘Can you feel the feeling of being a powerful eagle?’

Instruct each pose with a sentence like, ‘now we CHOOSE to flap our legs like butterfly wings….

Even if it feels a little strange to use the word ‘choice’ it is an effective strategy to implant the concept that even our movements are choices we are constantly making!

Becoming conscious of our body command is a powerful step in regaining our autonomy!