Let’s take a moment and acknowledge the resiliency it took to get through this year.
Many of us experienced difficulties and challenges. All of us, by getting through this year, have shown resilience. Hand Tracing is a great way to review, reflect, and recognize our resiliency.
Practice Hand Tracing
Use your index finger to trace your opposite hand. Trace your first finger, inhaling as you trace up the finger and exhaling as you trace down. Continue to breathe slowly as you trace all five fingers. This is an easy way to take five slow breaths and activate your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). You can even continue on with Hand Tracing on your other hand for five more breaths.
Hand Tracing can help soothe anxiety. This strategy allows youth to get “out of their head” by focusing on breathing. The somatic input of tracing the hand can be grounding. We sometimes use affirming language and think or say quietly to ourselves, “I am right here,” or “I am safe.”
Many youth like this technique because it is always available to them. Model discreet Hand Tracing under a desk to demonstrate that five breaths can be taken anywhere at any time.
Review and Reflect for Youth
Once youth are comfortable with Hand Tracing Breathing, you can introduce this “review and reflect” practice. Use our template to guide the practice.
Start by asking, “What is something you did this year that made you feel proud?” Answers could include: making a friend, learning something new, or overcoming a fear.
Then ask, “What are five steps you took to accomplish this goal?”
It may be easier for younger children to choose the same goal and brainstorm steps together.
For example, “How we made friends.”
- Played at recess
- Wrote letters
- Learned to talk through masks
- Worked at table groups
- Sat together on the bus
Once youth have completed their template, practice Hand Tracing Breathing by tracing all five fingers, focusing on picturing each step they took to get to this end-of-the-year accomplishment.
Review and Reflect for Yourself
While this strategy is effective for youth, it can also be helpful for us as adults. When we take time to review and reflect how we navigate challenging situations we begin to realize our strength and resiliency. We can recognize that we have survived 100% of our hardest days. This becomes the foundation for future success.
For your own reflection, you might choose a professional accomplishment from this school year. Or you might consider an individual youth you were able to successfully support this year. Take a moment to celebrate!
You want to focus on a personal accomplishment. What did you do this year that made you proud? Perhaps it was staying in touch with family and friends or parenting through a pandemic. The fact that we were able to navigate these changes is worth celebrating!
Try some other BREATHE-MOVE-REST strategies in our Free Resources. How are you taking a moment to PAUSE to review and reflect on your resiliency? Leave a comment!
This has been so interesting and so wonderful to try. It is a great way to focus and relax. The tracing can be done anywhere and any time and is such an easy thing remember and do.
I liked the blog and how important it is to remember what we have been through and how I have conquered some of the difficulties I confronted during the year. At 86 years is is sometimes tempting to say “I’m just to old.” My work with Chrissy keep me in the right line to keep going.