A picture of the artist, Sharon Plummer, we met at Smither Park in front of some of her artwork. we are going back next Wednesday to volunteer. It was a great outing!
Friday, January 13, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Monday and Tuesday Jan 9th and 10th
Monday Jan 9th
On Monday we spent the first half of the morning reviewing our values and goals for those who had missed them. After that we took 15 minutes out of our morning to meditate to one of the wolds most relaxing sounds which Perci had recomendend. Shortly after that we played a couple card games in which we had to guess the number, suit and color of the cards without looking at the card itself. We did this because it related to the short story we read about the Amazing Life of Henry Sugar which was about a man who supposedly spent years staring at candles and harness the power to see though anything, so he used his gift to win at gambling and donated all the money he made to orphanages. Once the students who were new to the class had finished doing that we moved on to a seminar about the book we were reading called Before Happiness by Shawn Achors. The class discussed skill two which was about Mapping your success route. Once that was over we did an activity of our own and mapped out our school district and our own personal surrounding that made up our life.
Tuesday Jan 10th
On Tuesday we were visited by two very interesting people named Marlin and Celeste. They both shared their own experiences with positive phycology and how mediation had really impacted their lives in many ways. More than anything I found Celeste's story very inspiring and how mediation had helped her cope with her cancer. Both her and Marlin both practiced Buddhism and shared some of what they learned from this practice with each of us. Celeste lead our morning meditation since she was the most experienced in meditation as she has been doing it for over 17 years. Marlin had brought some floor cushions with him so I sat on the floor during the mediation. Unlike the meditation we did on Monday this one didn't include music as it was more of a talk thru. We also were asked to keep our eyes open but not look at anything. That took a little time at fist but once I got the hang of it and it came pretty naturally. I felt tuned out form the rest of the world although I could still hear her voice in the background giving instructions. It was something that I had never experienced before and for the first time I actually felt connected with myself and my body.
On Monday we spent the first half of the morning reviewing our values and goals for those who had missed them. After that we took 15 minutes out of our morning to meditate to one of the wolds most relaxing sounds which Perci had recomendend. Shortly after that we played a couple card games in which we had to guess the number, suit and color of the cards without looking at the card itself. We did this because it related to the short story we read about the Amazing Life of Henry Sugar which was about a man who supposedly spent years staring at candles and harness the power to see though anything, so he used his gift to win at gambling and donated all the money he made to orphanages. Once the students who were new to the class had finished doing that we moved on to a seminar about the book we were reading called Before Happiness by Shawn Achors. The class discussed skill two which was about Mapping your success route. Once that was over we did an activity of our own and mapped out our school district and our own personal surrounding that made up our life.
Tuesday Jan 10th
On Tuesday we were visited by two very interesting people named Marlin and Celeste. They both shared their own experiences with positive phycology and how mediation had really impacted their lives in many ways. More than anything I found Celeste's story very inspiring and how mediation had helped her cope with her cancer. Both her and Marlin both practiced Buddhism and shared some of what they learned from this practice with each of us. Celeste lead our morning meditation since she was the most experienced in meditation as she has been doing it for over 17 years. Marlin had brought some floor cushions with him so I sat on the floor during the mediation. Unlike the meditation we did on Monday this one didn't include music as it was more of a talk thru. We also were asked to keep our eyes open but not look at anything. That took a little time at fist but once I got the hang of it and it came pretty naturally. I felt tuned out form the rest of the world although I could still hear her voice in the background giving instructions. It was something that I had never experienced before and for the first time I actually felt connected with myself and my body.
Thursday and Friday (1/5/17 &1/6/17)
Thursday and Friday of positive psychology J-Term have been super fun. On Thursday morning we tried two different types of very short meditation. First, we lit a candle and meditated for a minute at a time, staring at the center of it and trying to focus on an image in our heads. This was very difficult, and after several tries, we decided to try closing our eyes and focusing on an image. This was much easier, although still difficult to keep other thoughts from distracting us. After that we decided to try to be Henry Sugar, whom we had just read about, and to see if we could use our intuition to guess, first if each playing card in a shuffled deck was black or red, and then what suit each card was. This was a lot of fun. After that we discussed "The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar" by Roald Dahl. After that, we decided that we were going to make vision boards. We went to Office Max, and found lots of cool supplies to make our vision boards, and binders: including some stickers, sparkly paper, and some very cool gold tape.
After we came back to school and ate lunch, we decorated our binders and worked on our vision boards for the rest of the day.
On Friday morning, we started by meditating for 15 minutes to some music. After that we talked about the first skill in "Before Happiness" by Shawn Achor. It is a very interesting book that we spent a lot of time discussing. Then we wrote and shared about three events during our life that made us who we like being today. Then we wrote down some goals, and shared one with the group so that we would be held accountable for it and actually get it done.
After we ate lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating our vision boards.
After we came back to school and ate lunch, we decorated our binders and worked on our vision boards for the rest of the day.
On Friday morning, we started by meditating for 15 minutes to some music. After that we talked about the first skill in "Before Happiness" by Shawn Achor. It is a very interesting book that we spent a lot of time discussing. Then we wrote and shared about three events during our life that made us who we like being today. Then we wrote down some goals, and shared one with the group so that we would be held accountable for it and actually get it done.
After we ate lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating our vision boards.
The Beginning of Positive Psychology
Tuesday
Ah! The first day of Positive Psychology! Our first day was all about setting up our J-Term and making our daily schedules. We started off the day by writing down about 20 of our biggest values. Then we broke down the values and organized them into each other, making them into broader topics. as we got down to fewer categories, we learned about what our biggest values are.
Next we took about 15 minutes to meditate. By meditating every day, we hope to live in the present moment more, and become more calm. We used a song that had uneven beats called binaural beats and would draw us back to being in the moment more easily. After a lunch break, we decided to go for a walk to Hermann Park. Once we got to the park, we explored the lesser known Japanese garden. We saw a crawfish, a lot of birds, a frog (well we only heard it), two lizards, koi fish, turtles, fish, ducks, some squirrels, and a few dogs. We took our time, savoring the experience of nature and really enjoying being outdoors. When we just stopped and looked, and took everything in, we noticed so much more than we would have.
Wednesday
Our second day started off with a guided meditation for around 18 minutes. I prefer meditating with music, but I do like hearing another voice, to bring me back from trails of thought. We also got our books, Before Happiness by Shawn Achor. For lunch we all went out to Nippon to savor the food there. We tried to slow down and really enjoy the food we were eating. I’d say we were pretty successful.
It was pretty cold that afternoon, so we decided to stay inside, and we watched some fascinating Ted Talks about positive psychology. One of the talks that really stood out to me was by a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor, who was a neuroscientist. When she had a stroke, she was a bit excited to be able to study “from the inside out” as she said. One of the most interesting things that happened during her experience, was that she could “turn off” her left brain. The left brain is a negative voice inside your head, telling you about all the negative outcomes a situation can bring. With some time and practice, Taylor is now able to control when she turns on her left brain, and when she can turn it off.
Ah! The first day of Positive Psychology! Our first day was all about setting up our J-Term and making our daily schedules. We started off the day by writing down about 20 of our biggest values. Then we broke down the values and organized them into each other, making them into broader topics. as we got down to fewer categories, we learned about what our biggest values are.
Next we took about 15 minutes to meditate. By meditating every day, we hope to live in the present moment more, and become more calm. We used a song that had uneven beats called binaural beats and would draw us back to being in the moment more easily. After a lunch break, we decided to go for a walk to Hermann Park. Once we got to the park, we explored the lesser known Japanese garden. We saw a crawfish, a lot of birds, a frog (well we only heard it), two lizards, koi fish, turtles, fish, ducks, some squirrels, and a few dogs. We took our time, savoring the experience of nature and really enjoying being outdoors. When we just stopped and looked, and took everything in, we noticed so much more than we would have.
Wednesday
Our second day started off with a guided meditation for around 18 minutes. I prefer meditating with music, but I do like hearing another voice, to bring me back from trails of thought. We also got our books, Before Happiness by Shawn Achor. For lunch we all went out to Nippon to savor the food there. We tried to slow down and really enjoy the food we were eating. I’d say we were pretty successful.
It was pretty cold that afternoon, so we decided to stay inside, and we watched some fascinating Ted Talks about positive psychology. One of the talks that really stood out to me was by a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor, who was a neuroscientist. When she had a stroke, she was a bit excited to be able to study “from the inside out” as she said. One of the most interesting things that happened during her experience, was that she could “turn off” her left brain. The left brain is a negative voice inside your head, telling you about all the negative outcomes a situation can bring. With some time and practice, Taylor is now able to control when she turns on her left brain, and when she can turn it off.
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