Suggested script
The scripts for each lesson are designed to guide you (the teacher or presenter) through the material; they do not need to be read verbatim. We encourage you to adapt the scripts by using examples that are most relevant to your students. Consider a variety of ways (visually, interactively, etc.) to engage students with material. We recommend using either a T-chart of positive and negative responses to stressors or challenges in student lives, or a word cloud related to stresses and challenges in life. Links to an abbreviated version of this content, as well as all videos, webpages, worksheets, and other materials mentioned in this lesson, are available online.
Introduction (2–3 minutes)
Main lesson
Today, we are starting a series of three lessons on stress and how we can cope with stress and challenges. We’ve all experienced challenging times in our lives, but each person’s experiences are unique. While some students may have experienced moving schools, social or family stressors, stress from tests, homework, and school projects, or tough times with family or friends, how we react to stress varies. Some of you may feel like you were able to adapt well and even grow from your experiences, and you may be looking forward to new things. Others might be nervous thinking about what changes are coming your way or how you can be expected to handle anything new.
The good news is that science has provided us with wonderful ways to handle stress. We call this “resilience”—the ability to move forward from tough times. Importantly, there are skills we can learn and practice to build our resilience.
Think about a plant or flowers growing in a pot in your house. They can go days without water or sunlight. However, when they miss those things for very long, they begin to wilt and dry up. But when you water them and allow them to get sunlight, they bounce back and continue growing. That ability to bounce back and continue growing is resilience!
People are like that as well. There are tough times when we feel like we aren’t being watered or taken care of (like missing our friends), or that we are in the dark (such as when someone we love dies or we lose something important to us). But, once we learn to mourn a loss and see that we can continue on, we begin to move forward and even thrive. We call that ability to move through challenging times “resilience.”
What is one thing that has been hard for you or your friends?
[Ask one student to share; acknowledge the event and thank them for sharing.]
As we face new challenges, how do we move forward?
[Pause and see if anyone will answer with the response, “resilience.”]
Yes! Resilience is how we move forward. When we know we have the skills and resilience we need to cope with difficult emotions, we don’t have to fear them. We have three keys we are going to give you to help you cope when your stress is high—and here is a hint, BAM!
BAM stands for: Body, Action, and Mind. The acronym BAM is a helpful way for us to remember that we can build and use skills that involve our bodies, actions, and minds to build our resilience. Today, we are going to focus on a skill that reduces stress in our bodies—the first part of BAM!
BAM! puzzle worksheet
Using the BAM! puzzle worksheet, I would like you to write your name at the top and then pick one section and write “Body” on the dotted line. You can also color that section, but leave the others empty. Don’t worry, we will be working on those puzzle pieces another time.
[Students will keep their worksheet and add labels to the other sections when they are introduced in future sessions.]
Next, I will share with you two words that we will focus on today and that I want you to remember. [Make this lighthearted and fun.] But, I’m not going to tell you what they are just yet. You have to wait. You’ll know what they are when I get to them. If you don’t remember anything else from today, I hope you’ll at least remember these two words. Are you wondering what they are? Okay, good! I am happy you are curious about them, but you’re going to need to wait a little longer to hear them.
Mind-body connection lesson (4–5 minutes)
To get us started, we are going to talk about how the mind and body are connected. Did you know that your thoughts can affect the way your body works? Our mind has the power to increase our stress or help us relax, depending on how we use it.
[The presenter can refer to the APA mind-body webpage: Stress and the body or APA Topics: Stress.]
Choose one of the following activities:
- T-chart of positive reactions to stress (i.e., how can stress help you?) and negative reactions to stress (i.e., how can stress negatively impact your body and how you feel?). An answer key with suggested responses is provided at the end of the lesson.
- Engage students by drawing and labeling the impacts of stress on a picture of a body on a board/screen (a small group or individual activity could be to label a picture of a body; see the label the effects of stress on the body worksheet (PDF, 69KB)opens in new window).
- Using large sheets of paper, break the class into small groups and have one lie down on the paper and others outline their body (please be sure the student lying down has given permission to have their body outlined and is comfortable having this done). Using this body outline, have each student mark areas where they feel stress in their own bodies. Discuss the various locations. There may be some locations where a lot of students feel stress, and there will be individual differences in where students feel stress. An answer key with suggested responses is provided at the end of the lesson.
Discussion questions:
[To be used class-wide or in a small group, following an activity, or on their own.]
- When you feel nervous or worried, what do you feel in your body?
- Where do you feel stress in your body?
- How would you know when there is stress in your body?
Exercise (3–4 minutes)
Now that we know how the mind and body work together, let’s practice using our bodies to calm our minds. When we are facing a threat, our bodies respond in different ways. Some examples might include:
[The presenter may want to display these examples on a whiteboard or on easel paper for students to see.]
- Muscles feeling tight
- Faster heartbeat
- Faster breathing/holding breath
- Sweating
- Stomach feeling funny/stomachache
- Feeling tired
- Higher or lower appetite
Often, without even realizing it, when we are stressed or anxious, we hold our breath or breathe quick, shallow breaths. Unfortunately, when we do that, we actually make our bodies even more anxious—we might find ourselves tensing more or our heart rate increasing.
So, lots of physical changes happen when we face a stressor.
Even just remembering something stressful from the past or imagining something that could go wrong in the future can bring up those same physical responses. Our minds are that powerful. Often, we hold our breath or breathe quickly when we are anxious. One of the easiest ways to stop that cycle and calm ourselves down in almost any situation is to practice a simple breathing exercise.
Remember, I started this conversation by mentioning two words I wanted you to remember. Well, here are the magic words: Just. Breathe.
Pretty simple, I know, since we are breathing all the time. But what we are going to practice now is different from your everyday breathing. To help us remember to use this strategy when we are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we are going to call this exercise, Just Breathe. Let’s watch a video that walks us through it.
[Show the following video: youtu.be/L_qO0RFmpRkopens in new window or walk students through the exercise yourself using the instructions below.]
[If using the video, prompt students to participate while the video is playing. Encourage students to practice this exercise on their own outside of class.]
[If not using the video, walk students through the exercise by following this sequence:
- Have everyone breathe in slowly, deeply, as you count to four.
- Ask students to hold their breath for a count of four.
- Then, have students slowly let their breath out for a count of six.
- Repeat three times. Students should be told that if they feel uncomfortable at any point, they can just sit quietly and not do the exercise.]
How did it feel to take these deep breaths from the abdomen (stomach area) rather than your chest?
Did anyone feel like they were more tense? Did anyone feel like they were more relaxed? [Lighthearted] Did anyone feel silly?
Sometimes, it feels awkward or uncomfortable to focus on your breath at first. Or you might feel self-conscious in front of other people. But with practice, this exercise gets easier and it can really help us to take a moment to just center ourselves.
When we pay close attention to our breath, we take our thoughts away from our worries that might be swirling through our minds—even just for a few minutes. Sometimes, getting that little bit of space can help prepare us to cope with whatever challenge we might be facing. This is something we will practice more often together because it is so easy and can be done anywhere at any time. Now, how do your bodies feel? Raise your hand if you feel a little more relaxed. If you don’t necessarily feel relaxed, that’s ok too. Try practicing when you are at home and feeling a bit more comfortable.
Closing (1 minute)
Summary
I see our time is up for today, so I would like to say a few things as we wrap up this lesson. We learned that stress impacts your body in many ways.
We also learned that our minds are connected to our bodies and we can control some aspects of our bodies by using our minds.
We also learned two words. Do you remember what they are?
[Wait for student response.]
“Just breathe,” yes! I hope you remember them and when you do, you stop for two minutes to do what?
[Wait for student response.]
YES! Just breathe.
We will meet again to continue talking about this, as well as a few other things, to give you tools to cope with stress and challenges in life. Before we go, I want to ask that you practice the Just Breathe exercise at least once a day. Remember, it’s only for two minutes; you can do it when you first wake up or just before you go to bed, in the car/bus, anywhere. Find a time that works best for you.
At our next session, let’s talk about how often you’ve taken this Just Breathe challenge and what you think about it. Thank you for your attention today and remember to, what? Just breathe!
[The presenter may want to use one or more of the following extension activities:
- Discuss when students may need to “Just Breathe” during their school day and in other situations.
- Incorporate a visual aid, such as a note on the whiteboard or a poster on the wall in the classroom, to help remind students to breathe.
- For students with phones, encourage them to set an alarm on their phone reminding them to “Just Breathe.” Here are some phone apps that encourage deep breathing: Calm (iOS), Breathe2Relax (iOS)opens in new window, Breathe reminder on Apple Watch, and Google webpage.
- Use the BAM! Summary and Review of Lesson 1 (PDF, 29KB)opens in new window to create a visual summary for students on a whiteboard or on easel paper.]
The full module document (PDF, 1MB)opens in new window contains the answer keys to Lesson 1 activities and a resource list for students who may need additional or outside help.
