Spring is taking its time settling in and with the delay, big feelings may be expanding with the lack of freedom that comes with bike riding, roller blading, kites flying, warm breeze brushing cheeks and tickling hearts. While we know that all feelings are OK, we sometimes begin to believe we are those feelings. This exercise is to help children (and adults too) understand that feelings come and go, just like the clouds float across the sky or frogs jump from lily pad to pond. The fish are not the pond. The clouds are not the sky. We are not our feelings.
1. Sit or lie quietly and draw pictures in your mind's eye.
2. Imagine you are watching fish swimming in a pond.
3. Each fish represents an emotion like fear, worry, anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy, happy, excited, any feeling that comes up.
4. Just watch the fish and their emotion swim by.
5. Try not to take on the feelings of the fish; just BE.
6. You will have feelings because everyone does, but that does not mean you are the feeling; you might feel angry, sad or afraid, but that emotion doesn’t define you That’s not who you are.
7. Watch, don’t judge, or engage with the feeling and it will swim by just like the fish in the pond.
8. You might like to say, “I am the pond. I am the pond. I am the pond.”, until you feel calmer. Be the pond!
9. You could do this with clouds and name the clouds and watch them go by, saying “I am not the cloud. I am the sky." Be the sky!
10. Name it to tame it. See the feeling for what it is. Name it and watch it swim, float or hop away. Let it go. (inspired by 100hours.org)
1. Sit or lie quietly and draw pictures in your mind's eye.
2. Imagine you are watching fish swimming in a pond.
3. Each fish represents an emotion like fear, worry, anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy, happy, excited, any feeling that comes up.
4. Just watch the fish and their emotion swim by.
5. Try not to take on the feelings of the fish; just BE.
6. You will have feelings because everyone does, but that does not mean you are the feeling; you might feel angry, sad or afraid, but that emotion doesn’t define you That’s not who you are.
7. Watch, don’t judge, or engage with the feeling and it will swim by just like the fish in the pond.
8. You might like to say, “I am the pond. I am the pond. I am the pond.”, until you feel calmer. Be the pond!
9. You could do this with clouds and name the clouds and watch them go by, saying “I am not the cloud. I am the sky." Be the sky!
10. Name it to tame it. See the feeling for what it is. Name it and watch it swim, float or hop away. Let it go. (inspired by 100hours.org)
What do you think these frogs are feeling? Anger, frustration, worry, fear, disappointment, sad or something else? Name the feeling and watch it hop away! You are not the frog (or the feeling). You are the pond!
RSS Feed
