Lots of fun has been had in Primary 5 this week as we have been focusing on good mental health as part of mental health week. A big focus has been on how ALL feelings are normal – both the positive and negative ones. We have also been thinking about, and practising, strategies that can help us when we sometimes feel that an emotion is beginning to overwhelm us.
On Monday we practised mindful breathing where we really focused on our breathing and found that this stopped us thinking about anything else for a short time, giving our brains a little break.
On Tuesday we talked about trying new things and ’having a brave face and giving things a go.’ Our activity here was following a short dance routine. Despite a few hesitant faces, we all got up and gave it a go. Our brains had to focus on following the moves and the exercise got our bodies moving too. I have to say the smiles on lots of faces showed that they had enjoyed themselves and it had lifted their spirits – although I’m not sure that wasn’t just amusement at watching me trying to copy the dance moves!
On Wednesday our focus was on ‘taming the beast.’ We watched a short animation where the character was overwhelmed by his emotions (referred to as the beast inside). However, he learned to tame his beast and keep his emotions under control. Our activity today was some fun, yoga style stretches and balances. Again, we learned that this gave our brains a little break from thinking about other things as we had to really focus on keeping our balance.
On Thursday in Bounce Back we learned that sometimes in life things happen that we don’t like but that we have no control over. We looked at how we can look for the positives in these situations, and our coping strategy for today was to find/imagine a happy place where you can relax and ‘get away from things.’ This can be a real or an imaginary place in your head but it is a calm and relaxing place.
Field Good Fridays play a big role in promoting positive mental health. Our focus this week was on teamwork and on helping the environment as we designed and built a shelter for small animals.
Lots of other good learning has taken place throughout the week but I have focused on telling you what we have been doing regarding promoting positive mental health as you may find it helpful to encourage your child to use some of these strategies at home. Obviously different strategies work for different people, and you may like to discuss with your child which ones they found most useful or if there is something else they like to do.
Now it is Friday so I am off home to lose myself in a book for a short time!
I hope you have a lovely weekend
Mrs Haddow
P5 update
