Lesson 3: Actions

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. Links to an abbreviated version of this content, all videos, webpages, worksheets, and other materials mentioned in this lesson are available online.

Introduction (2–3 minutes)

Welcome and recap

Welcome back, everyone! Today we are continuing our lessons in “BAM!” with our second letter. Does anyone remember what the A stands for—what the topic of the day is?

[Allow students to guess the “A” in BAM, then tell them it is for “Actions.”]

Before we begin on “Actions,” I want to remind you that in the last lesson, we talked about the impact stress has on our bodies and we also learned one strategy that can help us cope with stress. Can anyone remind us of the strategy we practiced? Who remembers the two magic words we learned and what they mean?

[Wait for student response regarding the Just Breathe exercise.]

That’s right, we learned our Just Breathe exercise, where we breathe in for four seconds, hold our breath for four seconds, and breathe out for another six seconds. Let’s take a minute to take a few deep breaths together.

[Walk students through two to three rounds of deep breathing, breathing in for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, and breathing out for 6 seconds. Again, if any students feel uncomfortable doing this exercise, they can just sit quietly and not participate.]

[See the progressive muscle relaxation exercise detailed below as an alternative here, or if time allows, practice both techniques.]

Actions activity (3–4 minutes or longer)

Our session today will focus on our actions. We know that stress can affect our body, but how does it affect the things we do? Everyone experiences stress. A little bit of stress can help us and motivate us to take action. Too much, however, leads to distress. The things we do when we are in distress are called our “coping mechanisms.” Some of these actions help us to cope with our stressors, some may help us feel better in the short term, but they don’t help so much in the long term, and others can be completely unhelpful.

What are some examples of actions that people take to cope with stress that may not be particularly healthy or helpful?

[Have students list these on whiteboards or discuss them in groups. Allow students to share unhealthy coping behaviors like withdrawing from friends/activities/schoolwork; avoiding tasks; yelling (at siblings, friends, parents); watching too much television or mindlessly scrolling through social media; sleeping to avoid people/feelings/activities; isolating themselves; or using drugs and/or alcohol.]

Some of these actions are very normal, common reactions that most of us have experienced at some point in time when we have been in distress. They may help us feel better for a short time; however, they often don’t help us feel better in the long run.

Now, let’s think about some healthy and helpful actions people can take when they are anxious or stressed. Please keep in mind how your personal values can help inform healthy and helpful actions. For example, you can use your personal values to make decisions about what you want to do and how you want to spend your time.

[Have students list these on whiteboards or discuss them in groups.]

• Allow students to share helpful coping behaviors like spending time with friends, talking to someone they trust, going for walks, exercising, video chatting with family and friends, writing, drawing, finding a new hobby, listening to/playing music, helping others, asking for help, or brainstorming ways to solve whatever problems are on your mind.
• If time permits, mention that research has supported that expressing gratitude can enhance well-being. Students may want to thank a person who has supported them over the last 18 months or consider starting a gratitude journal or writing a gratitude letter. A lesson on a gratitude journal can be found online.]

Progressive muscle relaxation activity (5 minutes)

Optional activity

Let’s try another way to relax your body called progressive muscle relaxation, PMR for short. When we are stressed, worried, or otherwise upset, we tense our muscles, often without realizing it. When someone says they have a “knot in their stomach” or gets a headache, it may well be due to tensing muscles in the abdomen or neck. Learning which of our muscles tense is important so we can learn to relax them. There are so many positive effects of practicing PMR, including increasing our immune system (we don’t yet know all the reasons for that) and helping us feel more calm so we can have more energy and think more clearly.

The key to PMR is noticing what the muscles feel like when they are tense, and slowly relaxing the muscles so that you begin to notice the difference in how they feel when they are relaxed. The more you practice this, the more quickly your body can relax. When muscles are tense, they might even hurt. As you relax each muscle group, you might notice a tingling warmth or cold sensation.

[Watch/play this video (50 seconds): youtube.com/watch?v=rQVpkZACGCEopens in new window.]

Try it out with more specific muscle groups. Let’s start by clenching your right fist as tight as you can. Hold it for 10 seconds. Slowly relax for 6 seconds. Notice the difference? Now bend the arm at the elbow and tighten without clenching your fist.

You can practice this with other muscle groups:

• Your neck (bend it down to touch your chin to your chest, then do the same by turning to the right to rest on your shoulder, next turn to the left)
• Your stomach (pull in as if someone punched you in the stomach, then blow the stomach out)
• Your face (tighten your forehead by pulling your eyebrows up, make a big smile, and notice all the muscles around your mouth)
• Your legs and toes (tighten your leg muscles and curl in your toes)

Discussion (3 minutes)

Who would like to share their thoughts about the activity/activities, or about healthy and helpful or unhealthy or unhelpful actions you or others have taken in response to stress?

[If students are not offering any examples, provide an example of something you did.]

[Optional question, if time permits and students are engaged: Describe how being active can relieve stress and improve mood.]

Stress is often part of our daily lives. What is causing you the most stress today/this week?

[Engage students; acknowledge/thank those who choose to share.]

What activities are you doing to reduce that stress? What actions have you seen other people do to relieve their stress (helpful or unhelpful)?

How do your values impact your actions?

Closing (2 minutes)

Summary

The actions we make when we are stressed and worried affect ourselves and others. Helpful actions reduce stress, allow us to see the situation better, and help us solve problems. Unhelpful actions, on the other hand, can cause us to engage in problematic behaviors, withdraw, and become depressed.

It can often be hard to tell if our actions are helpful or unhelpful at the moment. Something you can ask yourself is, “When I did that, did it work, or did it not work?” Some unhealthy coping activities may work in the short term but not in the long term. In other words, ask yourself if your actions helped you work through your stress/solve your problem, or did it do the opposite? Helpful actions can allow us to get through whatever situation we may be facing.

Discussing things that stress you out might have made you feel stressed just now. Let’s take a moment to calm our bodies. Let’s wrap up doing our Just Breathe exercise.

[If instructors introduced the progressive muscle relaxation exercise, that can be substituted here, or students can choose which exercise to practice.]

[Allow students a minute or two to complete either exercise.]

See the full module document (PDF, 927KB)opens in new window, for a resource list for students who may need additional or outside help.