CHAPTER 12: YogA PRACTiCE To CulTiVATE THE SElf off THE mAT • 279PRACTiCE SCRiPT 12.2: fEEl YouR fEElingS
(Approximate timing: 2 minutes for the introduction; 30 minutes for practice)
[To prepare, have four photocopied sheets of a gender-neutral outline of a human figure for
each child and a box of colored pencils or crayons.]
Sit in a comfortable position. Be sure that you feel grounded, your feet on the floor and solid sup-
port under your sit bones and behind your back. Close your eyes and become aware of your breath.
Breathe in and out noticing the air as it enters your body and as you exhale. Feel the sensation of your
chest, rib cage, and belly as they expand to take in air and contract to release air. Allow your breathing
to be steady and natural.
Now, bring your awareness to a time when you were feeling very safe and happy. Picture yourself
in this moment. Have a sense of where you were, maybe even what you were wearing. Were you inside
or outside? Recall who was around you. Bring to mind any sights, sounds, and smells. Now, bring your
awareness to your body. Feel the feelings of safety and happiness. Explore where you feel these feelings in
(continued )triggering potential of both distracting thoughts and memories and external challenges and
frustrations (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Stages Two through Four in Table 12.1 reflect the mindful
and yogic approach to negotiating emotionally salient information and behavioral choices.
Ultimately, this process cultivates embodied self-regulation that honors the present moment
experience, creates balanced and sustainable self-mastery, and allows attunement within
self and with others (Cook-Cottone, 2015).
The practice script that follows is designed to bring awareness to feelings and the loca-
tions of feelings in the body. This activity can be especially helpful for those students who
have very little awareness of emotions and the embodied experience of emotions.
Consider doing this activity in consultation with a school-based mental health profes-
sional in case you are in need of further referral or support. For students who have trauma
histories or little experience with emotions this may be a challenging activity. When work-
ing with students with trauma in my role as a psychologist, I present the idea and allow
the students to choose when we do it (e.g., “Let me know when you would like to try this
activity in a session”). I also develop a cue or signal with which they can notify me that
they need a break or would like to stop for the day. I also encourage students to schedule
a quiet afternoon or evening with supportive family or friends if the session has been par-
ticularly challenging. Good candidates for doing this activity independently with a mental
health professional are students who struggle with negative affect, show a tendency to try to
escape from uncomfortable situations or emotional experiences, have deficits in the aware-
ness of bodily states, show difficulty detecting triggers or cues in their bodies, self-objectify,
and have experienced invalidating or abusive environments.
For most students, this is a fun activity that allows them to become more aware of their
feelings. Before you begin, invite students to participate, explaining the process and the rea-
sons for the process. I like to tell students that we are being feeling detectives. That is, we will
be investigating exactly what feelings feel like in our bodies. Let them know that you will
be asking them to elicit four feelings—safety and happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety.
Following the activity, it is important to engage in breath work and supportive communica-
tion in order to help the students return to baseline physiological activation.