06 EE_Breathing Basics_Pt1_3-5_final

To control the breathing is to control the mind. With different patterns of breathing, you can fall in love, you can hate someone, you can feel the whole spectrum of feelings just by changing your breathing. —Marina Abramovic Breathing Basics Level: Upper Elementary (3-5) Timeframe: 20-30 minutes Concepts: • Attention • Breath • Coping SkillsBig Ideas For This LessonBreathing is underrated. Life has relied on breath for at least 2.5 billion years. Breath predatesmost life-supporting functions. This biological heritage means that breath is deeply integratedacross neurological systems. This makes breath a powerful tool.We can ignore it, observe it, or even override breath at will. Ignoring breath allows the autonomicnervous system to run the show. Observing breath tells us about our current state of beingby creating immediate self-awareness. Simply bringing awareness to our breath can shift, orsignificantly shift, our emotional and physical states.In this lesson we introduce the basics of breath and attempt to grow an appreciation for breaththrough understanding. This lesson delivers foundational content to support the upcomingMindful Breathing lesson.Students will learn how to breathe deeply, become familiar with words to describe breath, learnhow to monitor their own breathing, and begin connecting types of breathing with specificemotions.Essential Vocabulary MaterialsBelly Breath • Use the following video to demonstrateBreath Quality How Breathing Works 1Deep BreathDiaphragm Muscle • Standard sized balloons, 1 or 2 per student; with aDiaphragmatic Breath capacity greater than 1 breath (water balloons are tooShallow Breath small). If students are too young to use balloons safely, you can use a timer to measure deep and shallow exhales.© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 1 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5PreparationPractice diaphragmatic breathing for yourself. This short video on diaphragmatic breathing²can help.Teaching ScriptBUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE & CONCEPT MODELING (I DO)Ask students to explain why people breathe. Using question-based prompts, guide the classtowards a discussion about the importance of breath and how almost all living things – fromcellular organisms to humans – need oxygen to live.Fact to Share: The brain is only two percent of a person’s total body weight. Yet it needs 25percent of the oxygen used by the body. The heart only needs about 7 percent of availableoxygenated blood.Explain how breathing works and how to breathe deeply (diaphragmatic breathing / bellybreaths). You may wish to share the video with students about how breathing works and/or usethe visual aid at the end of this lesson that shows a picture of shallow verses deep breathing. Teaching Note: Depending on the grade level you may opt to describe deep breaths as diaphragmatic breaths or belly breaths. Both are identical, however, it can be helpful to explain the basic physiology behind breathing so that students can understand why deep breaths are so important.The basic sensation of a diaphragmatic/belly breath is an expansive feeling that begins in thelower belly on an inhale and slowly rolls up to fill the whole chest cavity. An effective practicetechnique to distinguish from shallow breaths is to instruct students to place one hand on theirbelly button so that they can feel their hand rising on an inhale and sinking on an exhale. If theirhand is moving they are engaging their diaphragm muscle and if their hand is not moving theyare not breathing deeply enough! © 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 2 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5GUIDED PRACTICE (WE DO)Facilitate balloon demonstration as a whole class or by breaking the class into small, workinggroups (2-4 students/group).Teaching Note: If students are too young to use balloons safely, use a timer and the “handson belly” technique to compare the inhales/exhales of shallow vs. deep breaths. Another greatexercise for younger students is to instruct students to lie on their backs and then place a smallobject (rock, etc.) on their belly. Their breaths should be deep enough to cause the object torise and fall with their breath.Distribute 1 or 2 balloons per student. (2 balloons can provide a helpful comparison, though theexercise can just as easily be done using 1 balloon).Since balloons can be a distraction from the lesson, make sure to set expectations aroundhow the balloons are to be used, and not used, during the activity. Make this fun by allowingstudents to first make funny noises with the balloons, demonstrating what ‘not to do’. Thenallow students to fill the balloon with one full breath, pinching off the end with fingers–proper use.First, allow students to practice shallow breathing. a. “Shallow breathing occurs when the diaphragm muscle is not fully engaged.” b. “Place a hand in front of your mouth like you are “fogging a mirror” and practice very short, rapid breaths so that you can feel little puffs of air on your hand.” c. “This style of breathing will move the chest rather than the belly.” d. “Shallow breathing is the body’s natural response to stress. You will notice that this is how you breathe if you are working hard in gym class, or exercising, or if you are really scared or anxious. While shallow breathing can be helpful by preparing our body for action, shallow breathing can also cause more stress by not allowing our brain all of the oxygen it needs.” e. “Now practice again, this time including a balloon. As you breathe a shallow breath out, breathe into your balloon. A shallow breath should barely inflate the balloon.” f. “Tie the balloon or, if you cannot tie a knot, pinch your balloon closed tightly between your fingers.” (If students’ are just using one baloon, have them make a mental note of the size and shape of the balloon before deflating it.) g. Ask students to describe their emotions when they were shallow breathing.© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 3 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5Now guide students in practicing deep breathing. a. You can do this with students lying on their backs on the floor or sitting up. b. “Deep breathing engages our diaphragm muscle and moves our belly outward as we breathe in.” c. “Place your hands on your stomachs and breathe in deeply, allowing the diaphragm to push the belly outward. Your hands should rise.” d. Now practice with the second balloon. e. “Exhale fully using a diaphragmatic/belly breath and breathe into your balloon. A deep breath should inflate the balloon close to full.” f. “Tie the balloon off or pinch it closed with your fingers.” g. Compare the sizes of the two balloons (shallow vs deep breathing). h. “Which type of breath gets more oxygen to your brain?” Correct! We can see that deep breathing will deliver more oxygen to our brain. Deep breathing is usually what we do when we are sleeping or relaxed. So, our brain associates deep breaths with relaxation and safety. If you want to feel calmer – just take a deep breath! i. After practicing a few deep breaths ask students to describe their emotions while deep breathing. Teaching Note: At this point you are finished with the balloons.REINFORCING LESSON CONCEPTS (YOU DO) Today we learned why we breathe, how we breathe, and that our breath and emotions are connected. Our brains tend to connect shallow breathing with stress and deep breathing with relaxation. How might you decide to use your breathing to influence your feelings and mindset?As time allows, you may have students demonstrate how they might breathe if they werefeeling a particular emotion. Make this fun! You can also have students come up to act out abreathing style and call on others to guess the emotion.You may also assign a ‘breathing journal’. Have students record the quality of their breathalong with an emotion they are feeling at random times throughout the day/week, e.g., duringa transition, after recess, just getting home, going to bed, before a group activity, or duringreading time. Help students raise awareness around their breathing and how it relates to theiractivity/emotion.© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 4 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5EVIDENCE OF CONCEPT ATTAINMENTReflect on it Journal it• Why do we breathe? • Keep a breathing journal, connecting• What is the difference between shallow events, emotions and behavior to breath quality. and deep breathing?• What words can we use to describe our • Write about a time you remember that your emotion changed your breathing. breathing? Why do you think your breathing• How is your breath connected to your changed? emotions?EXTENSIONS School-wide Classroom • Post deep breathing reminders in public spaces. • Create a poster reminding students of breathing basics. • Consider adopting school-wide norms that include quick deep breathing • Lead class in daily deep breathing exercises. For example, all teachers exercises. These take as little as 1 may decide to adopt a post-recess minute to complete. Make it part of deep breathing moment where classroom culture, and have students students are asked to notice their lead. Use as transition from one activity breath and take deeper breaths. This to another. supports a mindset shift back to classroom expectations. • Shallow breathing can be useful. It can energize and increase focus after a • As a staff team, discuss the role of meal or a nap. Try some shallow breathing in behavior response. When breathing exercises with your students. a student is escalated, for instance, cue Always remind students to return to a a deep breathing exercise or try normal breath if they feel dizzy. matching the students breathing and then begin slowing your own breath. • Remind students that good posture Our brains mirror the breathing of supports deep breathing. those around us.© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 5 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5REFERENCES1. Nirvair Kaur [TED-Ed]. (2015, August 1). How breathing works [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Kl4cU9sG_082. UMHC UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. (n.d.). Diaphragmatic breathing video. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/stressrecess/animations/ diaphramatic_breathing/diaphragmatic_breathing.html© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 6 of 7 All rights reserved.

BREATHING BASICS | GRADES 3-5 BELLY BREATHING (Deep Breathing)© 2016 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 7 of 7 All rights reserved.