Tap Tap Tap

These cold days are tough! I get so restless because I can't go outside to do anything, nerves get short, and tensions get high. Just taking a few moments throughout the day to have some mindfulness can help us all. Studies show that purposeful mindful moments will improve attention, regulate emotions, and reduce stress. 

Consider creating some calming habits in your classroom to help students learn how to reset themselves. Building self-regulation strategies into our routines will help students (and us!) learn to manage their motions appropriately when situations arise. Pro-active planning can help head off discipline issues and foul moods.

One of my very favorite stress-relieving strategies is the Emotional Freedom Technique, commonly known as tapping. As an alternative to acupressure, tapping is using your fingertips to lightly tap meridian points on your body. Tapping these hot spots of energy can help control stress and anxiety, manage emotions, and reduce troublesome thoughts. Done regularly, tapping can lower your heart rate and blood pressure and reduce stress hormones.

There are 9 meridians most commonly used in tapping: top center of your head, between your eyebrows, beside your eye, under your eye, under your nose, on your chin, under your collar bones, under your arms, and on the side of your hand. To gain the most benefits of tapping, find a comfortable seat and soften your gaze or close your eyes. Focus on your breath for a minute, inhaling deeply through the nose and exhaling strongly through the mouth. Using your fingertips, start at the top and work your way down, repeating as needed. 

Try this with your students. Those who are ramped up, for whatever reason, could use this as a way to self-regulate their emotions. Visit the Quiet Stress Relievers page for other ideas to incorporate into your daily classroom practice. And don't forget to look at the Daily Classroom Poses page for those days when students are wiggly and need to just move for a minute!