ExhilaFit

Today we had a birdy join our table at the ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ youth event today at IS61. Our table provided a small M.A.P gratitude workshop for students and family members.

We are deeply appreciative of being able to hold space with such wonderful students and their family members.

I was really really excited to see the final paintings that focused on gratitude. 🙏

Gratitude is a wonderful way to resource ourselves with positive feelings of appreciation.

It is something that we can tap into daily but even when unpleasant things happen that we do not like happen, gratitude is something we can tap into-to soften the edges of life’s ups and downs.

This workshop is intuitive and meant to provide a bit of mindful relaxation and reflection.

Sometimes your body knows before your mind does. 🧠💛

For many of us, stress doesn’t start in our thoughts — it shows up in our body first.

A tight chest. A clenched jaw. A held breath. These might be signals worth paying attention to.

In our recent workshop, we explored something together:

What does stress feel like on one side of the body — and what might calm feel like on the other?

That exploration? It can shift something. 🙏🏾🙏🙏🏼

Because when we start to recognize what calm might feel like in our body, we can begin finding our way back to it.

Here are some practices that can support that return:

🫁 Breathwork — for many, the breath is one of the most accessible places to start.

🧘🏾‍♀️ MBSR Body Scan — a gentle practice of bringing awareness through the body, noticing what’s there without judgment.

💗 Loving-Kindness Meditation — because sometimes what helps isn’t pushing harder… it’s offering ourselves a little softness.

The return to calm looks different for everyone.
But it’s possible. And it’s worth practicing. 🌿

✨ Save this as a gentle reminder.

💬 Where do you sometimes notice stress showing up in your body first?

Turning down our stress dial workshop 🌟

Imagine your belly button as a dial you can actually turn down when stressed out. After a guided mindfulness meditation, they created beautiful stress management artwork! We brought it to life by creating our own stress dials, mapped with both triggers and coping skills.

Our belly button transformed to an emotional “dial” to consciously turn down when feeling overwhelmed.

🎯 Personal stress dial on paper plates 📍 Identified current triggers (tests, friend drama, family stress) ⬇️ Mapped their go-to calming strategies along arrows

Quick Stress Tips from Today:
* Your body gives you early warning signals - listen to them!
* Deep breathing for 2 minutes can reset your nervous system
* Having a visual reminder helps kids remember they’re in control
* Stress isn’t the enemy - it’s information from your body

Stress is just information from your body. You have more control than you think. And it’s okay to need tools - we all do.
Building these inner resources early changes everything. These kids are going to be okay. 💙

This class focused on different ways of thinking. Each cap represents a variety of angles and perspectives that can shape our ideas 💡. We looked at basketball as an example. There are rules, that is planning. There is a court. That is a fact. But when we add a bit of creativity, it becomes a basketball game. Our feelings a I it winning and loosing though it shapes our attitude at times, we can acknowledge feelings with reacting on them. And in basketball, reacting can sometimes cause us to make decisions that we are not happy with. We can go into a game believing we are capable of winning, but only when we practice which is part of planning can we develop the skills necessary to play according to the rules. And when you are taking a shot because someone fouled you, best believe, pausing, breathing and focusing mindfully can help you tune out all the noise.

All these hats work together. When we are intentional, our minds can think 💭 amazing things, come up with great solutions, and see beyond anything that we could ever imagine.

Taking responsibility for our thought types -once we are aware that different types of thinking patterns exist, can feel empowering.

🎯 Mindfulness bean bag toss!

This week my students learned about neural pathways through hands-on play.

Each throw was an opportunity to practice intention-setting, focus, emotional regulation, doing their best, and having the best attitude possible.

The pipe cleaner “neural pathways” they built become the DNA that combines our attitude, effort, and success.

Tangible proof that every mindful choice is not just about actions but also our attitude, emotions, how we handle loss/success, and whether we’re putting our best effort forward!

When we are open and curious rather than fearful about making mistakes, we become open to trying new things and mastering new skills through practice.

Each throw builds the pathways we use to live each day, and at any time we can be intentional with our efforts 🧠💫

More thought bubbles 🫧!! When we are intentional with our thinking go habits we can choose to entertain positive thoughts. This is called redirection. It does not discredit other emotions or thoughts what are not so pleasant, but allows us to choose to support a mindset that leans towards the things that uplift our lives and mood.

This means with practice, the priming of pleasing being held in our mind over an extended period of time, supports decision making about other parts of our life with more clarity, confidence and other healthy benefits that a calm nervous system offers when we are happier.

We focus on happy thoughts while making art. This helps us retain the mindful part so that when a whole bunch of thoughts rise like bubbles 🫧 we can focus on that with gives us good feelings more than on the others. This also helps with stillness and sustained focus.

ExhilaFit M.A.P. Essential oils workshop.

We had a blast and everyone got@yo take away their own unique bottle of smell good. 😊

BREATHING ESSENTIAL OILS

Smelleffects Limbic system (emotions) DIRECTLY:
Lavender:
1. GABA - increases it (anti-anxiety)
2. SEROTONIN - calming effect
3. LOWERED cortisol - stress reduction
4. ACETYLCHOLINE - parasympathetic activation

Peppermint:
1. DOPAMINE - alertness/focus
2. NOREPINEPHRINE - energizing (good arousal)
3. IMPROVED oxygen - mental clarity

Citrus (orange, lemon):
1. SEROTONIN - mood boost
2. DOPAMINE - energy/motivation
3. LOWERED cortisol - stress reduction

Frankincense:
1. SESQUITERPENES - crosses blood-brain barrier
2. LOWERED anxiety - limbic system calming
3. SPIRITUAL connection - used in prayer/meditation (oxytocin)

Smell is one of the fastest routes to limbic system (smell bypasses thinking brain)
🫶Immediate chemical shift (30 seconds)
🎯Portable mindfulness medicine (carry oils everywhere)