Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………...2
What is Mindfulness…………………………………………………….3
Benefits of Mindfulness…………………………………………………5
Foundations of Mindfulness…………………………………………….7
Tips for Teaching Mindfulness………………………………………….9
Breathing Exercises and Scripts……………………………………......11
Mindful Activities……………………………………………………...16
Guided Imagery Mindfulness Scripts………………………………….28
References……………………………………………………………...51
Introduction
Mindfulness is not about avoiding difficult situations or feelings; it’s not a way to by-pass
problems or about achieving a different state of mind. Mindfulness is about being present even in
distressing times, it’s about not getting caught up in our reactions and it’s about experiencing our
current situation in a relaxed, alert and purposeful way without judgment on ourselves.
Research has shown that practicing Mindfulness in classrooms proves to have countless benefits
as you will read in this booklet. It is our hope that this resource manual will provide you with the
basic knowledge of Mindfulness Practice along with tools you can use in your own classroom.
Please know that any additional resources can be requested by any member of the DREAMS
team. In addition, DREAMS has a sign out sheet for our Mindful Bells that we encourage you to
use in your classrooms or with individual students as needed.
DREAMS would like to thank you for allowing us into your classrooms to begin practicing
Mindfulness. We look forward to working together to implement the practice of Mindfulness.
DREAMS
2
What is Mindfulness?
3
What is Mindfulness and How to Explaining Mindfulness to
Students
Some educators find using this script helpful when explaining Mindfulness to their students:
Mindfulness is a way of practicing paying attention in a way that helps you live a happier
life. Mindfulness means paying attention to what is happening right now with kindness and
curiosity.
What’s really cool is that you get to learn through playing games, singing songs, talking and
doing art.
When you learn about Mindfulness, it’s like you are being a scientist. You study your own self,
your own mind. You study your thoughts, your feelings, your friendships and your kindness.
Like any scientist, you do experiments and you discover things. For example:
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Perhaps you’ll discover there’s a happiness, a quiet peaceful place, which is always
within you.
You might discover ways to calm yourself down and lift your mood when upset, angry,
or sad.
You might discover ways to be kinder to yourself, others and the world.
You’ll learn about the brain too!
Through mindfulness, we learn to recognize when we are feeling uneasy or upset. We learn to
be with our direct experience, bringing kind awareness to what is true in our body and
mind. This awareness allows us to choose how to respond. We learn to replace harmful ways of
reacting with beneficial ways of responding.
Mindfulness Explained to Educators
Mindfulness means a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations,
and the surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay
attention to our thoughts and feelings without judgment. When we practice mindfulness, our
thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or
imagining the future.
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Benefits of Mindfulness
5
Why Practice Mindfulness in our Schools?
Benefits:
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Body and Emotion regulation: when our bodies and emotions are balanced and
appropriate in our lives
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Insight: “self-knowing awareness”…this is key to building positive social connections
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Attunement with others, ie. “Resonance”: This leads to the other person’s experience
of “feeling felt”, of being understood. When children become more “tuned in” to
themselves, they are more “tuned in” to others around them
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Empathy: allow us to see from the stance of another person’s experience, imagining
others’ reality and perspective
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Better Impulse Control/Response Flexibility: the capacity to pause before taking action
(this is key with children and teens!); being able to consider a variety of possible options
and to choose among them.
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Fear modulation: our ability to calm and soothe, and even unlearn, our own fears
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Intuition: access to awareness of the wisdom of the body
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Increased Attention Span: practice of paying attention can build our attention muscles
in our brains
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Morality: taking into consideration the larger picture, imagining and acting on what’s
best for the larger group rather than just ourselves
Mindfulness Helps Schools
There’s scientific evidence that teaching mindfulness in the classroom reduces behavior
problems and aggression among students, and improves their happiness levels and ability to pay
attention. Teachers trained in mindfulness also show lower blood pressure, less negative emotion
and symptoms of depression, and greater compassion and empathy. – Jon Kabat-Zinn, Founder
of Mindfulness Based Stress reduction program
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Foundations of Mindfulness
7
The Foundations of Mindfulness Practice
By practicing mindful awareness through sitting meditation we learn to cultivate the following
attitudes towards our life experience.
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Nonjudging:
Impartial witnessing of thoughts and feelings; with kindness and intentionality, resisting
the inclination to judge and criticize our experience.
Patience:
Resting in the wisdom that things need to unfold in their own time and allowing for this
process to happen.
Beginners mind:
The ability to see things as if for the first time with a sense of curiosity and genuine
interest. Allowing for preconceived ideas to not influence our direct experience of the
present moment.
Trust:
Recognizing our own inner wisdom and ability to guide ourselves in the practice of
knowing our minds.
Nonstriving:
Allowing oneself to be on the path with direction but also being in the present moment
each step of the way.
Acceptance:
Permitting that whatever arises in your experience to be fully present, no matter what
your reaction may be, including resistance.
Letting go:
Recognizing the inclination to hold onto experiences, whether positive or negative, and
allowing oneself to let go of what is not needed or helpful.
Connected to each of these attitudinal foundations is: COMPASSION
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Tips for Teaching Mindfulness
9
Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Students
Here are some guidelines that Mindful Schools has created for educators who want to
incorporate mindfulness into the school day, or for anyone who wants to teach mindfulness to
children, based on our experiences with Mindful Schools.
Have your own mindfulness practice. This will make you more effective at teaching
mindfulness. We can only offer what we have developed ourselves.
Choose a time for mindfulness. We are creatures of habit! Try to always practice mindfulness
at the same time. Many teachers find mindfulness helps their class settle down after
recess or after lunch. Of course, you may do it more than once a day.
Create the environment. Make it clear that mindfulness is a special time: clear off desks,
perhaps move to the carpet, or have all chairs face the front of the room. Ask students not to take
bathroom breaks and refrain from talking and moving for a little while.
Get the students involved. The best way to make sure you remember to do mindfulness is to
enlist the help of your students. Create a rotation schedule for “who gets to ring the mindfulness
bell.” If you practice mindfulness at the same time every day, pretty soon you won’t have to
remember—whoever’s turn it is will remind you!
You share. Because children respond well when we relay our own experiences, you can share
with the students if, how, and when you are using mindfulness in your life. If you share a recent
story of when you were overcome with emotion or used mindfulness to help you deal with an
emotion, they can hear how it is applied.
They share. Many young students like to share what they’ve noticed or experienced during
mindfulness, or maybe something that was challenging or distracting. Sharing also allows others
to be aware of things to notice while practicing mindfulness that they may not have heard
otherwise.
Practice every day! The sooner you begin integrating mindfulness exercises into your daily
classroom routine, even for just a minute at a time, the quicker it will become a part of the
classroom culture.
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Breathing Exercises and Scripts
11
Mindful Moments Breathing Exercises
Teachers can sign out a Mindful Bell from DREAMS for these Mindful Moments.
Use the instructions and script below for a daily mindfulness lesson; it can be done in just one or
two minutes. You can do the same thing every day. A simple lesson to repeat daily is one
minute of mindful listening and one minute of mindful breathing. This breathing exercise is
recommended before beginning any Mindful activity and after completed the Mindful activity.
1. “Please get into your ‘mindful bodies’—still and quiet, sitting upright, eyes closed.”
2. “Now place all your attention on the sound you are about to hear. Listen until the sound is
completely gone.”
3. Ring a “mindfulness bell,” or have a student ring the bell. Use a bell with a sustained sound or
a rainstick to encourage mindful listening.
4. “Please raise your hand when you can no longer hear the sound.”
5. When most or all have raised their hands, you can say, “Now slowly, mindfully, move your
hand to your stomach or chest, and just feel your breathing.”
6. You can help students stay focused during the breathing with reminders like, “Just breathing
in … just breathing out …”
7. Ring the bell to end.
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Three Mindful Breaths Script
The first thing we are going to try is what is called “Three Mindful Breaths”. Breathing is
a great thing to start practicing mindfulness with, because you can’t go anywhere
without it!
Find a comfortable sitting position. Sit so that you can easily and normally breathe
through your nose. You just need to take your normal size breaths. You can close your
eyes for this, or if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, try doing what we call “soft eyes’,
which means to just look down at the floor without really focusing on anything.
Now bring your attention to your breath. You can focus on the breath at your nostrils noticing
how the air feels cool coming in and may be slightly warmer as it leaves your
body or you can focus on your breath at your belly- feeling it rise and fall as the air enters
and leaves your body.
Stay focused, as best you can, on your breath. Just notice the air as it enters and
leaves, enters and leaves your body. If your mind wanders, that’s okay. Simply bring your
attention back to the in-breath and out-breath. Breathing in and breathing out.
Your mind will naturally wander off and get lost in its thoughts. That’s okay- it’s just what
minds do. Your job is to gently bring your attention back to your breath every time you
notice your mind has wandered. Tell yourself “good job” for noticing, and then continue
to watch your breath.
Now I am going to ask you to take three normal breaths, and try and focus just on the
breath for all three.
Now gently start to take notice of what is happening around you. Notice your body
where it touches the floor. Notice what is in the room around you. Notice what sounds
you can hear.
Now gently start to move your fingers and toes, and have a stretch, and let’s have a talk about
what we did.
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The following breathing exercises were written by a teacher who started the blog,
www.themindfulclassroom.wordpress.com
In my class, I start students off by reading a script that helps them focus on their breath.
To start, we aim for about 1-2 minutes, depending on the age of the children. In my class, I ring a
resonating tone bar which, when repeated each day, signals the brain to focus. As they become
better able to focus on their own I slowly reduce the amount I say until I eventually say nothing
at all.
Here is the script I follow:
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Please sit comfortably in your chair, sitting tall so the air can fill your lungs.
I invite you to close your eyes.
When I ring the chime, listen for as long as you can. When you can’t hear it anymore,
slowly begin your deep belly breathing.
As you take a deep breath and fill your lungs, feel your stomach rise and then fall again as
you breathe out. (wait for 30 seconds before moving on with instructions)
If your mind wanders, that’s okay, just focus your attention on your breath.
When I ring the chime again, keep breathing calmly. When you can’t hear the sound
anymore slowly open your eyes but stay still and quiet.
Deep Belly Breathing takes practice. Here are a few ways students can begin to understand and
practice deep belly breathing.
Deep Belly Breathing Techniques
Hobermann Sphere: Have students slowly inhale while you slowly
expand the Hoberman sphere and then exhale as you slowly shrink the sphere back to its original
size. This is also a great way to demonstrate the expansion of the lungs.
Bubbles: Have students practice a deep inhale and then slowly exhale as they blow bubbles.
Back to Back: Have students sit on the floor back to back. One student begins by inhaling
deeply. The other partner should feel the expansion in their partners back as they breathe deeply.
Take turns back and forth.
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Pinwheels: Have students practice deeply inhaling and then using the
exhale to control the speed of the pinwheel.
Objects on the stomach: Have students place a small stuffed animal or object on their stomachs.
As they breathe deeply, they should feel the stuffed animals or objects rise and then fall when
they exhale. For younger students, you can tell them their job is to rock the stuffed animal to
sleep using the rise and fall of their stomachs.
Flower and Candle Breathing: Have students clench their fist as if they are holding a flower.
Have students pretend to smell the flower by deeply inhaling. Students then pretend they are
holding a candle and slowly exhale to blow out the flame.
Cotton Balls: This game doesn’t mimic deep breathing but demonstrates
that breathing takes practice, controlled breathing, and focus. Students get into partners standing
a good arm’s length apart. Students begin by blowing the cotton ball at their partner. The goal is
to hit their partner with the cotton ball using only their breath. When done, students stand with
their feet apart. They then take turns trying to score a goal by blowing the cotton ball through
their partner’s feet. Finally, each individual student places their cotton ball on the palm of their
hand. Their challenge is to slowly blow the cotton ball to the tip of their index finger without
blowing it off the hand.
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Mindful Activities
16
Mindful Activities
Empty The Mind Bucket Script
1. Pause. State out loud that you are going to take a moment to clean out all of the thoughts that
you don’t want from the day.
2. Close your eyes and take few deep breaths in.
3. Busy your mind by thinking about how your clothes feel on your body, how they touch your
skin. Perhaps consider if they feel soft, rough, scratchy, warm or cool?
4. How imagine in your mind that you see an infinite number of empty buckets. These buckets
can look any way you want them to look. Perhaps they are a certain color that you like? Maybe
they have the day’s date stamped upon them? I wonder what your buckets look like?
5. Now imagine that you can fill each bucket with a thought about something you no longer
want to think about. Visualize dropping these unwanted thoughts, events, or memories into each
bucket. Once you have filled each bucket, now begin to see the buckets empty. Maybe you
carry them to the ocean and dump the contents into the big waves to wash away. Or maybe you
take them to a car wash or a giant shower to wash them down the drain. Or maybe even you
send them off on a space shuttle to outer space. Any way you would like, empty out your
buckets.
6. Begin to feel calm and peaceful as your mind quiets, being rid of all of the unwanted thoughts
about events of the day. Feel how calm your mind is. Beautiful!!!
7. Feeling that your mind is now clean, calm, and ready for sleep, you can begin to return your
attention to the room around you and can open your eyes when you are ready.
Celebrate a calm, centered, peaceful mind that is ready for bed! Or ready to concentrate on
homework…. or ready to take that test….. or ready to return to play in a more peaceful way…..
17
Mindful Smiling Script
Find a comfortable position on the floor, lying down like you are in your bed. Close your
eyes, or if you aren’t comfortable closing them, have “soft eyes” just gazing up at the
ceiling without really focusing on anything. Imagine you are just waking up. Open your eyes and
take a few normal breaths, noticing the breath either going in and out your nostrils, or your belly
going up and down
Now slowly turn your mouth up into a smile- not a big, exaggerated smile, just a normal smile
like you would give to someone you like. Notice how your lips feel- are they together? Are your
teeth showing? Are they warm, cool, damp, or something else? Now notice your cheeks- how
does the smile make your cheeks feel? Does it push them out? Up? Does it make them feel
warm, cool, or something else? Now notice the rest of your face- does your smile change
anything about your eyes, your jaw, your ears? What about your teeth and your tongue?
Now bring your attention to the rest of you. When you are ready, slowly raise yourself up as if
you are getting out of bed. Gently give yourself a stretch and sit back up.
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Fly Like A Bird
1. Find a place to stand where there is enough room to raise the arms straight out to the
sides and above.
2. Begin by standing with the feed shoulder width apart and take a deep breath in through
the nose and let it go out through the mouth.
3. Start with the arms hanging down to the sides of your body.
4. Inhale, and allow the arms to slowly float up. Straightening the legs.
5. Exhale, and allow the arms to slowly float down, bending into a partial squat at the knees.
6. Feel that sense of light, effortless movement through the body. Relax into the flow.
7. Inhale, float the arms up again, straightening the legs.
8. Exhale; float the arms back down, bending at the knees.
9. Feel a wave-like movement through the whole body. Feel how light the arms are.
10. Relax breathing in, repeat. Relax, breathing out, repeat.
11. Focus on feeling weightless, relax the mind, look softly in front of you. Feel the air move
through your fingers. Have a sense of moving without any effort. Simply allow the body
to unwind.
Repeat for several minutes and then sit down and talk about how it went. Tune in with the body
just before and just after practicing to compare and note the differences and similarities. Fly
Like A Bird is so very calm and relaxing. It also is a great grounding activity for when your
child’s or your energy gets a little chaotic or scattered
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Spider-Man: Practicing Mindfulness and Increasing Focus
Materials Needed: Bell, Flower, Small Food Item (such as a berry, piece of cereal, or raisin)
One of Spider-‐Man’s super powers was the ability to tune into his senses. Like a spider, he
could hear very tiny noises. He was able to pay very close attention to the noises. When you pay
very close attention, you are able to calm your mind and let go of all the noisy thoughts in your
head that can be distracting. With practice, you can improve our focus and relax right now, right
where you are.
Right now we are going to learn to activate your super powers to tune into your senses, just like
Spider-‐Man. These are your Spider-‐Man Super Senses. What it takes is a little practice. Let’s
start with your sense of hearing. First let’s sit down. Close your eyes and place your hands on
your knees. I am going to ring a bell. When you hear the bell, pay attention to the ring until you
can no longer hear the ringing sound; clasp your hands together in your lap. (Repeat 3 times).
Like Spiderman, we have activated your super power of ultra-hearing! Excellent work!
Next we are going to activate your super powers of ultra-seeing, touching and smelling. I’m
going to give each of you a flower. Hold your flower gently in your hand. When I ring the bell, I
want you to gently touch the petals. Feel what each petal is like beneath your fingers. Pay
attention to if the petal is soft, rough, wet, furry, smooth, or prickly. See what you can feel.
Imagine, like Spiderman, your hands have the power to sense very carefully what the flower
feels like. As I ring the bell next, I want you to smell the flower. Breathe in deeply with the
flower under your nose. See what the flower’s scent is. Is it sweet? Maybe it has very little smell
at all? What do you smell? Now, finally, as I ring the bell, I want you to look very closely at the
flower. Pay attention to the lines on the petals. What does the center of the flower look like? Is it
bumpy? Smooth? Soft looking? Wet looking? Is there powdery pollen in the center? See what
details you can notice in the flower, what little shapes, what lines, what circles, if any. (Ring the
bell a final time to signal the end of the activity).
The final activation of your Spiderman super power of ultra-senses, is to practice your sense of
taste. We are going to practice by tasting, paying very close attention to what a berry tastes like.
(Please feel free to use whatever small food you like such as a piece of cereal, a sunflower seed,
a raisin, etc. . . ). Start by looking at the berry and noticing, using your super power sight, what
the berry looks like. Turn the berry gently between your fingers, feeling what the berry feels like.
Next, place the berry in your mouth. Allow the berry to be slowly in your mouth, paying
attention to how it feels on your tongue, how the juices in your mouth start to flow. Now slowly
begin to chew the berry. See how slowly you can chew it. How does it taste? Sweet? Tart? Sour?
Gently swallow the berry, paying attention to the taste that remains in your mouth after you
swallow it.
Now you have activated all of your Spider-Man Super Senses! Remember that when you get
very quiet and focus, your body and mind are able to relax and take a break from the day’s busy
activities. You have the power to activate your Spider-‐Man Super Senses whenever you want to
calm down and focus for a moment.
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Mind Jar
Materials: A canning jar or plastic water bottle, Water, Different colors of glitter or material that
will float and slowly can sink in the water.
Optional: an additional small object they choose to keep in their jar that makes them happy.
Talk to children about stress. Ask them to tell you about stressful situations they have
experienced recently. After validating and normalizing their feelings and thoughts, tell them this
activity will help them calm their mind. Explain that when people calm their mind, they also can
calm their body. If children haven’t learned how to do belly breathing, take time to teach it
before doing this activity.
After filling the jar with all the materials, invite the children to shake it and watch how
everything swirls around. Explain that the jar is like their mind. The objects floating and
swirling are like their thoughts and feelings. When they experience strong emotions they may
feel that way.
Invite them to take slow deep breaths as they watch everything settle at the bottom of the
jar. Remind them that the same thing happens with our thoughts and feelings. Taking slow deep
breaths and paying attention to those breaths can help settle the mind.
When the water is cleared up, emphasize that this is what happens to our minds as we pay
attention to our breathing. Ask them, “What is the water like now? –It’s clear and peaceful.
Invite them to shake their jar and observe the materials settle as they practice their belly
breathing several times during the session.
Instruct them to keep their bottle in a place at home where they can see it every day. Encourage
them to practice this exercise at least once a day –even if they aren’t upset or stressed. If they
practice, it’ll be easier to remember to “clear their mind” when they have strong swirling
emotions.
This activity is a modification from “Mind in a Jar” presented by Thich Nhat Hanh in Planting
Seeds (2011).
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Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is an experience that engages all of the five senses. Remember to:
Look
Smell
Taste
Touch
and
Listen to your food!
By using all of your senses, you will appreciate all of the characteristics of the food. You are
more likely to savor the bites, eat slower, digest better and enjoy the meal more.
Mindful Eating Practice
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Let your body rest comfortably in the chair. Notice your legs and feet. Relax them. Let any
tension move out of them.
Close your eyes
Notice your shoulders, arms, and hands. Let the tension out of them. Relax your hands, your
arms; let your shoulders sink into a relaxed state. Place a hand on your belly so you can feel
the air come in and go out.
Now focus on your breath. Slowly breathe air into your body.
 First in through your nose or mouth
 Let it fill up your chest.
 Then fill up your belly (full diaphragm) and feel your belly rise as your lungs fill with air
 When your belly is full, slowly exhale: first empty the air from you belly, feel the belly
get smaller.
Continue to slowly move the air out through your mouth.
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Repeat the full breathing process one more time. Then slowly open eyes and prepare to begin
the mindful eating activity.
Mindful Eating Practice (3- 4 minutes)
Place the selected food on a plate in front of your student (remember the raisin example). Take
your child through the script below, varying it as you feel appropriate.
“Look at the (food’s name). What is its shape? What size is it? What color is the (food)? What
smell do you notice? What sensation do you notice in your mouth as you look at the (food)?
What’s the feeling in your stomach? Pick up the food slowly. Hold the (food) in your fingers and
look at it in your grasp. What does the (food) feel like in your hand: its texture, temperature?
Bring the (food) slowly to your lips. Before putting the food to your mouth, pause and be aware
of what you are experiencing in your mouth. Slowly open and place the (food) on your tongue
for a moment without biting into it. Feel what you mouth wants to do with this (food). Take a
few moments before you bite into it. Feel its texture on your tongue and in your mouth. What do
you taste?
Now bite into it noticing what you taste and what it feels like. As you continue to taste, try not
to swallow the (food) right away. Does the taste and feeling change as you are chewing? Feel
the food going down as you swallow. Refocus on your mouth. Notice your stomach and what it
may be feeling. Notice what you are feeling? Now you have finished your exercise.”
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Walking Mindfully
This can be useful for children who find it difficult to sit still. It helps them become more aware
of their body.
Ask the children to walk around a room. Ask them to lift one foot at a time slowly and carefully
as if walking on eggshells or walking in slow motion. Ask them to place their foot down
smoothly and slowly. Then ask them to take a step with the other foot the same distance ahead.
Ask them to feel every muscle in their legs while they walk and every shift in body weight. Ask
them to feel their hands and arms in space. You can ask them to move a bit faster, then more
slowly again. Tell them that, if they begin to think about other things, they should gently allow
these thoughts to pass, and then return their attention to their body.
This can also be done taking your class for a walk around the school. It is a quiet activity that
won’t disrupt other classes.
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Thought Workout: Lifting Positive Thoughts to Feel Good
We can teach children to lift relaxing positive thoughts like we lift weights. Relaxing positive
thoughts carry much more weight and influence than negative thoughts. Therefore, just like we
work out physically, a little work out daily goes a long way. We know that repetition is a key
ingredient in re-programming the mind for success. Setting the intention to spend a little time
each day in the Relaxation Gym will strengthen our minds and align them with what we desire to
create and feel in our lives. Attend the positive thought workout session with your students and
strengthen your minds to feel good!
Activity: Relaxing Thought Workout Script
Pause, take a deep breath and bring your attention into the moment. Put your hand on your heart
and point two fingers of your other hand to tap your head as you do repetitions of the following
thoughts:
Three Reps: “I love and accept myself right here right now.” “I have a relaxed mind and body.”
Four Reps: “I can do whatever I set my mind to.” “I have a relaxed mind and body.”
Five Reps: “I stay focused today.” “I have a relaxed mind and body.”
You are the personal trainer for your mind. You design the perfect workout for you. When you
decide that you want to focus on feeling good and taking care of beautiful you, then these
workouts will become effortless, natural and automatic, until that time, you might need to visit
the Relaxation Gym several times daily to build strength and to train your brain to feel
good. Create repetitions of any thoughts that are related to what you are working to create and/or
feel at this point in time.
Variations on the Theme: For children who are scared, you can create repetitions such as “I ride
the wave of fear all the way through until it is complete. ” or “I take a deep breath when I feel
scared.”
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Pencil Squeeze–Eraser Squish Script: Progressive Relaxation at Your Desk
Tense/relax techniques are easy to do anywhere and fit seamlessly into any routine or daily
activity. That is why they are perfect for desk relaxation in the classroom. Try the following
tense/relax routine any time you want to have a short one-minute relaxer prior to initiating seat
work.
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Tell your students that you are going to practice the “Pencil Squeeze” in order to relax
and get your minds and bodies ready for the task at hand.
Have them hold a pencil in each hand and ask them to squeeze it very very tight and hold
until you tell them to release it. Discuss what they notice.
Now have them place the pencils on their desk and tell them that you are going to
practice the activity with imaginary pencils. Ready?
Ok, now gently close your eyes and imagine that you are holding a pencil in each
hand. Squeeze the pencil very very tight and hold as I quietly count to 10. After
counting to 10, tell the students to release the pencils and allow your hands to rest in your
lap or on your desk. Feel the warm, tingling feeling in your hands as you allow them to
melt right there into the desk, very heavy, very relaxed. Count slowly to 20.
When you are ready you can open your eyes and know you are focused and ready to get
to work!
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Freeze and Feel Script
1. Decide what the signal will be, (a bell, chime, hand clap or finger snap, gesture, or turning off
the lights, etc. . . ). When the signal is given, tell children you are going to all Freeze!– right
where you are and pause.
2. Now Feel. Take a couple of deep breaths and tune in to your body and notice what you are
feeling. You might feel a little tightness in your shoulders, or your hands might be
clenched. Are you holding yourself off of your chair or are you relaxing completely and
allowing the chair to hold you? Notice all of your feelings that you can. Become a detective and
search your whole body, scan for all sensations.
3. Give the signal again to bring attention back to the room. Discuss with children what they
noticed.
Variation: Add a little fun to the practice and tell children that you will call out a body part after
1 minute and if they can tell you how that part felt during the freeze and feel, they
win! (Facilitator decides the prize categories)
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Guided Imagery Mindfulness
Scripts
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Tips for leading Relaxation Scripts and Guided Imagery
Be Relaxed To Help Relax: When doing any sort of guided imagery, it is important to be in
that space first before you attempt to guide anyone else. Energy is important! Your students will
be able to feel if you are truly relaxed and at peace or not.
Set the Stage: Set up an environment that is safe, secure, comfortable and free of
distractions. Energy is everything! Make sure that you and your students feel good in the
environment.
Mind the Volume: Read with a soft, but clearly audible voice. If you are whispering or talking
too slowly, it can be distracting for your students since she has to struggle to actually hear what
you are saying. On the flip side, if you speak to harsh or have a naturally loud voice, you might
need to mindfully focus on softening your tone as you lead the activity.
Set the Pace: Read slowly and steadily, giving your students a pace that allows them to really
experience what you are leading them into in their imagination.
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Guided Imagery Mindfulness Scripts
The Big White House
This script helps older children and teens to gain perspective and deal with everyday
stress. (From Guided Imagery For Healing Children and Teens by Ellen Curran):
Imagine walking along a long white beach. You can hear the gulls and the gentle
roll of the waves. Your feet sink into the warm, white sand. It is quiet and safe. You are alone
walking into the soft sea wind. The sun is shining down on you, making you warm. You have
been looking for a place to be quiet and comfortable. This feels as if it is your beach, yours
alone.
You stop and stand, looking out over the immense expanding ocean. It shows its green top-water,
its purple mid-water, and its gray powerful underwater. The colors are mixing and churning,
creating the bubbly white crest at the top of each wave. The roll of each wave sounds like the
Earth, breathing. O…cean. O…cean. Over and over again with each wave. You feel the power
of the ocean and the Earth.
A short distance ahead of you, you now notice a big, white house. It is beckoning to you. It looks
like a temple or small castle of some sort. You walk towards it, relaxed and interested. Your
follow a short path to the house and see that the large door is open. Your feel that it is perfectly
OK for you to go inside. It is safe and calm.
You step out of the sunshine and into the coolness of this beautiful house. You find yourself in a
huge hallway with plants and paintings. A magnificent, marble staircase stands before you. You
know you want to go up those stairs. You become aware of a very heavy backpack that you have
been carrying all this time. The backpack is full of your worries, troubles, concerns, and negative
feelings. You have been carrying them for a long time and you realize that this backpack is
weighing you down. Your shoulders ache, and your back feels tight and stiff from all these
feelings.
Slowly remove your backpack and with it all your worries and concerns. You feel released, free!
You can now easily ascend the staircase. Each step you take, you become lighter, happier, and
quieted. Each step brings you closer to absolute comfort and joy. The comfort and joy live in
you, and now there is nothing to get in the way of feeling them, reaching them, having comfort
and joy.
Now at the top of the stairs, you are strong and certain. A large window is open at the top of the
stairs, and in front of it is a big, white comfortable chair. You sit down and face the window,
watching the magnificent ocean once again. This time is yours. You watch from your chair, by
your window in your house. Breathe in the soft ocean air, and know you are home.”
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The Magic Shell Meditation Script
This script is for younger children and can help when worry and anxiety are a concern. (From
Meditations for Mini’s by Debbie Wildi):
Place yourself in a comfy, cozy position. Close your eyes and take a long
slow deep breath. As you breathe out relax your body.
Imagine that you are standing on a beach. See the beach in your mind. Think about a beach that
you may have visited, or you could use an imaginary beach if you like.
You can feel the sand beneath your toes and the sun is warm on your face. Look around you. In
front of you is a huge ocean. It looks a silvery-blue colour and the sunlight sparkles like tiny
stars dancing on the surface.
You look at the ground and in front of you in the sand is the most glorious shell you have ever
seen. You pick it up. It feels warm. Notice how smooth the shell is. Feel it with your fingers.
This is your magic shell. You can tell it your secrets and it will keep them. You can also tell your
shell any worries that you may have. Tell it about any problems that may be troubling you at the
moment. No matter how big or how small they are. The shell wants to hear them.
Whenever you have worried feelings you can tell your shell about them and it will magically
take those horrid feelings and turn them into good ones.
Now see yourself holding the shell close to your mouth. In your mind silently tell it whatever
you wish. No one else will know what you say. Only you and your shell! As you say your words
they go right into the middle of the shell so that it can take them away for you. Tell your shell
your worries right now….
Now you do not have to feel yucky feelings anymore. The shell has made them disappear. Just
like magic!
They are gone!
As you hold your shell close all you feel is calm and happiness. You feel peaceful all the way
from the tips of your toes, to the tip of your nose. Feel it right now. Notice how it feels.
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It is important for you to know that you can imagine your shell whenever you wish to make
yucky thoughts and feelings disappear, whenever you wish to feel calm. Your shell will always
be there waiting in your imagination.
Of course, if you visit the seaside you can always look for your own real magic shell. How will
you know it is magic? Just choose the shell that feels right for you, this will be the magic one.
You can also use a magic stone if you like.
Find one of these in your garden, or in the street.
Here is an idea! Keep your magic shell or stone under your pillow to take away bad dreams and
always bring you a peaceful sleep.
Perfect!”
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References
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