Oochie. This is the word one of my volunteers uses to describe our students when their emotions have created a build up of kinetic energy in their bodies that they don’t know what to do with and are trying to contain. You can probably recognize that sensation.
Movement is a powerful way to soothe and re-regulate. Sustained or strenuous movement releases the hormones that elevate our mood, while the movement itself usually creates a repetitive rhythm. Rhythmic movement mimics the sensation of swaying we experienced in the womb, one of our brain’s first associations with safety.
Every emotion physically manifests itself somewhere in our body and when not released through physical movement can store itself and lead to physical ailments. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk is the best book to explain this concept.
Simply going for a walk or taking a few minutes to stretch your muscles can help to dispel pent up emotions and re-regulate. The following activities offer creative paths to either simply engage in movement or assist in building associations between movement and emotions.
***There is usually no need to reinvent the wheel when creating activities that teach or reinforce social and emotional learning. Many of these lessons have been in circulation for years. In fact, if a student is familiar with the activity, it provides even greater opportunity to focus on the SE skill being explored***
Visual Arts
Futurism
Object:
Supplies: paper, pencils, paint and brushes
Process: Begin by introducing Futurism; an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasised speed, technology, youth, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. Share Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash by Giocomo Balla. Ask students the following questions: What is going on in the painting? How does the artist depict movement? Can creating directional lines create the effect of movement?
Invite students to identify a movement that helps them to feel calm like dancing, walking, drinking water, or breathing. How could they use a similar technique used in the painting to depict their calming movement? Allow students to create a simple painting that incorporates their selected movement.
Discussion questions: Did you notice any sensations in your body as we talked about movement? As you were painting your movement, how did you feel?
Drama
Follow your nose
Object: To explore simple variations on walking
Supplies: None
Process: Have students move around the room, filling up the space, changing pace, changing direction, being aware of other people but not touching them. Have them move around with different parts of the body leading/informing their movement. Example: "Become aware of your nose. Let your nose lead you around the room. Follow it wherever it goes!"
Invent a creature
Object: To explore how movements alter with different body characteristics
Supplies: None
Process: Invite students to imagine a creature unlike any seen before. Give them ample time to really think about what the creature looks like and how its physical characteristics are different from their own. Invite them to begin moving through the space as if they were that creature. How would that creature walk? Run? Jump? Would it move fast or slow? Could it move for a long time or only a very short time? Offer a few suggestions to invite students to re-imagine the movement given different scenarios.
Discussion questions: How did it feel to be your creature? What made it easy to move like your creature or what was challenging? While you were moving as your creature, did you notice any particular feelings or emotions that your creature might have been experiencing?
Music/Dance
Music makes us move (and moody)
Object: To recognize the association between music, mood, and movement
Supplies: 5-6 songs of varying tempo and mood
Process: Invite students to move through the space in response to the song playing for 1-2 minutes. Pause between songs to ask students if they are able to name an emotion that they feel is represented by the song played. Also ask how they would move if they are feeling that emotion. Does the movement of the song match the movement they associate with the feeling? Repeat with each song.
Discussion questions: Did you notice if your mood changed with each song? Did you notice if your mood changed as you changed movement qualities? What kind of music or movement do you like to do when you are feeling happy? Stressed? Excited?