For this creation, the creative aspect of embodied thinking was used to develop an activity for a subtopic of emotions. The subtopic chosen was the response to emotion with a focus on strategies used to channel strong feelings into an appropriate and safe response. Using the Emotional ABC's curriculum strategies of "Pause and Breathe, Rewind, and Play," and a flow of three yoga poses that resemble each symbol an embodied thinking experience that connects the mindfulness of movement to the self-reflecting strategies was created.
Reflection
I. My definition of embodied thinking is the connection between mind and body to achieve a full understanding.
II. This new understanding impacts my topic area in a way that creates a concrete kinesthetic connection to the Emotional ABC’s strategy of “Pause and Breathe, Rewind, and Play.” This strategy already takes place inside the body already, but is more abstract and can be difficult for young children to understand outside of the images and words. Providing physical movements for these strategies of how to respond when experiencing strong emotions helps to support the three steps to appropriate response and problem solving rooted in the practice of mindfulness and yoga further supporting the idea being taught.
III. Connections to the text:
In Chapter 9 of Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People by Robert and Michèle Root-Bernstein the quote, “...the physical association between our emotions and our viscera is closer perhaps than we realize or would like to admit.” followed by, “Mind and body are one, and we must learn to facilitate and make use of the interconnections,” (pg. 174) instantly reminded me of the practice of yoga. In my classroom, I teach Social/Emotional learning through the use of the Emotional ABC’s curriculum which is based on understanding one’s emotions and strategies to reach an appropriate response. In addition to this, I also complete some brief yoga sessions with my students. This quote encouraged me to combine the two to provide physical motions for our three step strategies to achieve appropriate responses, in a way that will also physically help them achieve the goal of reaching a clear, calmer mind. In Chapter 10 on page 199 there is mention of Stanislavsky’s recommendations for method actors, the first being “Inner attention” or the focus on feelings in real and imaginary situations. Using these movements in correlation with the pause, rewind, and play steps enough times will morph an innate internal reaction that’s pulled from the feeling of completing these motions.
Root-Bernstein, M. & Root-Bernstein R. (2001). Sparks of genius: The thirteen thinking tools of the world's most creative people. Mariner Books.
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