How can I deal with negative emotions in school? Today, we will explore a new strategy, mindfulness, to better handle our emotions through three new activities!
Materials
Time Estimated:
20 minutes
Directions:
Activity 1: The Hot Seat
This negative emotion is Embarrassment.
Watch the scenario.
To regulate this emotion, try a Grounding Technique called 5-4-3-2-1:
Use your room to identify:
5 things you can see
4 things you can feel
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Activity 2: Math Mania!
This negative emotion is Stress.
Watch the scenario.
To regulate this emotion, try a Body Scan:
Lie down on your back, or sit up in your chair with your eyes closed.
Take two gentle, deep breaths.
Notice how your body feels, starting at your feet and moving up through your body to your head. Tense? Relaxed? Warm? Cold?
After you’ve scanned your feet, legs, belly, arms, chest, and head, pay attention to your body as a whole. Sit still for a few moments until you decide it’s right to move again.
Activity 3: Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
This negative emotion is Frustration.
Watch the scenario.
To regulate this emotion, try Starfish Breathing:
Take your preferred hand and place your fingers out in front of you.
Take your index finger and trace the outline of your hand, breathing in and out as you trace. Breathe in as you trace up your finger and out as you trace down.
Repeat this process for all 5 fingers.
Think Like a Scientist!
Using mindfulness to regulate negative emotions is a handy life lesson applicable for many years. Consider these questions to continue applying mindfulness in your life:
Have you done mindfulness before, and how did it feel to practice it today?
Would you like to try mindfulness again sometime? Explain.
What is an example of a situation outside of school where you could use mindfulness to regulate negative emotions?
How Does it Work?
Emotion regulation refers to the ability of an individual to control their emotional state and behavior. It includes both “conscious and unconscious processes” to manage experiences and expressions related to emotions (Siegler, R. S. et al., p. 435, 2017). Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present in which one observes their thoughts and feelings without labeling them. Social and emotional functioning have a substantial impact on learning and academic success. As you progress through school, how you regulate your emotions can help or detract from experiences in the classroom and attitudes toward school and learning!
Further Exploration:
In a study conducted by Kwon, Hanrahan, and Kupzyk, it was found that children who were better able to regulate their emotions showed higher levels of academic achievement, motivation, and engagement. In reference to the importance of emotion regulation in addressing feelings such as embarrassment, frustration, and stress, mindfulness can help your state of mind in social and academic settings by providing relaxation and calming techniques. Identifying negative emotions that you often feel after experiencing common school scenarios—such as feeling embarrassed in front of the whole class, angry over losing in a game with a friend, or overwhelmed by a heavy workload—offers visuals to which the audience can relate. This may make mindfulness techniques feel more applicable in your life. These strategies also open the conversation to how students of all ages can use mindfulness to handle largely internalized and difficult to deal with emotions. As you learn more about emotion regulation and mindfulness and its specific techniques, you can use them to aid in navigating a range of uncomfortable or difficult situations.
Thank you to the Developmental Psychology Class at Occidental College and Professor Susan Geffen for sharing these videos and worksheets with us!
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